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August   21,    1824 — July    2,    1911 


THE   NEW    METHOD   OF 
EDUCATION 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIVE   EXAMPLES,  EXTRACTS  FROM 

SCHOOL   DOCUMENTS,  AND  A  CATALOGUE 

OF  THE  NORMAL  HIGH  SCHOOL 


By  WILLIAM   L.  WHITTEMORE 


£2Hiti)  fiflcmortal  5llJtircss 


THE   TUFTS   COLLEGE   PRESS 
I91  I 


-    •    t 


Copyright,  191 1 
The  Tufts  College  Press 


I   OFFER   THIS   TRIBUTE  OF    GRATITUDE 

TO  THE    MEMORY   OF 

LOUIS    AGASSIZ 

MY   FIRST  TEACHER    IN  THE   ORDER 

OF  NATURE 


257728 


PUBLISHERS'    NOTE 

The  late  Professor  Alpheus  Hyatt  and  others 
urged  Mr.  Whittemore  to  describe  his  school-room 
methods  and  put  them  into  permanent  form.  With 
this  desire  of  his  friends  in  mind,  he  preserved  much 
written  work  of  many  children,  and  several  years 
ago  published  in  the  columns  of  a  local  paper  the 
school  exercises  which,  with  some  changes  and 
additions,  now  appear  as  "Illustrative  Examples.' 
He  published  the  ''Historical  Sketch"  in  the  same 
weekly  newspaper,  and  in  1908  began  to  reprint  these 
articles,  together  with  certain  school  documents, 
under  the  title  of  "The   New  Method  of  Education." 

While  this  part  of  the  book  was  in  process  he  was 
at  work  upon  "General  Principles'  which  he  did 
not  live  to  complete. 

October  1911. 


ADDRESS  IN  MEMORY  OF 
WILLIAM  LEWIS  WHITTEMORE 
AT  THE  FUNERAL  SERVICE 
IN  THE  UNITARIAN  CHURCH 
MILFORD,  N.  H.,  JULY  5,  1911 
BY      ALBERT      E.      PILLSBURY 


MEMORIAL   ADDRESS 

If  this  is  a  departure  from  the  usual  forms,  it  is 
an  unusual  occasion.  William  Lewis  Whittemore, 
who  disappears  from  this  community  with  which  he 
has  been  identified  for  upward  of  half  a  century,  was 
a  remarkable  character.  There  is  no  other  like  him 
in  the  history  of  the  town.  He  survived  the  genera- 
tion that  first  knew  him  here,  and  dwelt  for  the  space 
of  another  generation  among  those  who  knew  him 
little  or  not  at  all.  Perhaps  he  was  always  best 
known  and  beloved  among  his  own  pupils.  At  the 
desire  of  some  of  them  who  would  lay  their  wreath  of 
remembrance  upon  his  grave,  I  attempt  to  speak  of 
him  to-day  as  they  knew  him. 

About  three  score  and  ten  years  ago  he  came  out 
of  the  Lyndeborough  woods  an  untutored  country  lad, 
endowed  by  nature  with  a  clairvoyant  eye  for  science 
and  a  divine  gift  of  instruction.  Few  teachers  of 
pronounced  genius  have  appeared  in  this  country,  or 
perhaps  in  any  other.  The  genius  of  this  man  for 
teaching  was  as  native  and  certain  as  the  genius  of 
Whittier  for  song  or  Powers  for  sculpture.  It  was 
recognized  at  sight  by  the  greatest  teacher,  borrowed 
from  Europe,  this  country  ever  knew,  and  the  en- 
couragement of  Agassiz  helped  to  fix  him  upon  the 
vocation  to  which  he  was  unmistakably  called. 


VIII  MEMORIAL   ADDRESS 

For  his  own  education  he  seems  to  have  selected 
teachers  rather  than  schools.  Among  them  he  always 
spoke  of  William  Russell  with  particular  respect,  but 
the  most  notable  part  of  his  training  was  at  the 
Lawrence  Scientific  School  of  Harvard  University, 
under  the  personal  direction  of  Agassiz  and  Hors- 
ford.  They  were  so  quick  to  see  his  merits  that  they 
opened  to  him  not  only  the  facilities  of  the  school, 
but  their  private  laboratories,  with  their  personal 
assistance  and  intimacy.  He  studied  the  sciences 
with  them,  and  the  science  of  teaching,  before 
it  had  occurred  to  people  in  general  that  there  is 
such  a  science.  Drinking  at  this  spring,  his  thirst 
for  a  knowledge  of  scientific  education  was  only  stim- 
ulated. It  became  the  object  of  his  life,  and  he  went 
abroad  twenty  years  later  for  extended  study  of  the 
educational  systems  of  Europe. 

He  first  tried  his  hand  as  a  teacher  in  the  district 
schools  of  his  own  and  neighboring  towns,  and  after 
some  3'ears  of  this  apprenticeship  he  came  to  Milford 
in  1855  and  took  charge  of  the  high  school.  It  was 
soon  after  the  erection  of  the  School  street  building, 
now  discredited  as  the  "old  brick,"  but  then  the 
wonder  of  the  town.  For  the  next  dozen  years 
Milford  had,  under  his  tuition,  probably  the  best  high 
school  in  New  Hampshire,  and  if  there  has  been  a 
better  anywhere   I   have  never  seen  or   heard  of  it. 


WILLIAM    LEWIS   WHITTEMORE  IX 

There  are  no  more  competent  judges  of  the  merit  of 
the  school  than  the  hundreds  of  his  old  pupils.  They 
have  had  half  a  century,  more  or  less,  to  prove  what 
it  did  for  them,  and  they  are  of  one  accord  that  he 
was  the  ideal  teacher.  He  was  a  deep  student  of 
nature,  especially  of  natural  history  and  geology  to 
which  his  tastes  inclined,  but  equally  adept  and 
skilful  in  all  branches  of  instruction.  Of  his  views 
of  scientific  education  I  say  nothing,  as  he  has  be- 
queathed them  to  the  public  in  his  own  words.  It  is 
my  purpose  only  to  speak  of  him  as  we  saw  him. 

His  methods  in  the  school  were  a  revelation  then, 
and  I  suspect  that  in  most  schools  they  would  be  a 
revelation  now.  They  were  masterly,  but  never 
school-masterly.  There  was  no  cramming,  no  mem- 
orizing, no  teaching  or  learning  of  anything  by  rote 
or  rule  of  thumb.  The  school  was  a  place  for  the 
development  of  the  mind-  Every  pupil  had  to  do  his 
own  thinking  and  give  his  own  reasons.  It  was  of  no 
use  to  know  a  fact  unless  the  whole  meaning  of  the 
fact  was  known.  It  was  of  no  use  to  work  out  a 
problem  unless  every  step  in  the  process,  every  why 
and  wherefore,  could  be  explained.  What  is  the 
longest  river  ?  The  Mississippi.  But  we  could  not 
leave  the  Mississippi  until  we  knew  all  about  it,  its 
discovery,  its  traditions,  its  commerce,  its  part  in  the 
history   of  the  country.     What   is    a  straight   line  ? 


X  MEMORIAL   ADDRESS 

The  shortest  distance  between  two  points.  In 
another  school  this  would  be  the  end  of  it,  but  on 
that  straight  line  he  would  lay  open  the  whole  science 
of  geometry.  For  text-books  he  had  little  respect, 
and  they  played  but  a  minor  part  in  his  system.  He 
taught  from  nature,  from  the  fields,  the  woods,  rocks, 
and  streams,  the  home,  the  shop,  the  street,  the  daily 
newspaper,  from  which  he  used  to  read  and  draw  us 
into  discussion  upon  it.  I  remember  that  he  took 
occasion  of  a  thunder-shower  one  afternoon  to  tell  us 
more  about  electricity  than  I  have  ever  learned  since 
in  an  age  of  electrical  science.  He  was  a  master  of 
the  neglected  art  of  reading,  for  which  he  had  every 
qualification,  a  rich  and  resonant  voice,  perfect  utter- 
ance, and  a  soul  in  tune  with  the  highest  themes,  and 
he  rarely  selected  any  other.  He  made  the  scripture 
reading  with  which  he  used  to  open  the  school  the  most 
impressive  religious  service  I  ever  saw.  It  was  usu- 
ally from  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  hear  the  tones 
of  majesty  in  which  he  would  deliver  the  Ninetieth 
Psalm  or  other  favorites  was  like  sitting  at  the  feet  of 
David. 

Perhaps  his  example  was  not  less  striking  or  fruit- 
ful than  his  precept.  And  of  this  let  me  say  first,  in 
view  of  the  cigarette  and  cocktail  type  of  school-mas- 
ter which  has  succeeded  him,  that  there  was  nothing 
in  his  example  that  could  not  profitably  be  followed. 


WILUAM    LEWIS   WHITTEMORE  XI 

He  had  none  of  the  fashionable  vices  that  are  now 
thought  proper  to  be  sown  broadcast  by  the  heads  of 
schools  and  colleges.  Raised  a  country  boy  in  a 
backwoods  town,  little  if  ever  in  contact  with  polished 
society  which  did  not  attract  him,  he  had  the  man- 
ner and  the  manners,  no  less  than  the  morals,  of  a 
born  gentleman,  in  the  only  proper  sense  of  that 
much-perverted  term.  Native  dignity,  without  a 
a  sign  or  suggestion  of  the  pompous  or  pretentious, 
was  a  part  of  him.  Even  the  clothes  he  wore  seemed 
to  be  a  part  of  him,  and  it  was  an  attire  rarely  seen 
in  a  country  village  then,  or  anywhere  now.  None 
who  saw  him  in  his  prime  will  ever  forget  him. 
Would  that  I  could  sketch  the  picture  as  well  as  I 
remember  it.  Tall,  lithe,  straight  as  an  arrow,  quick 
of  step  and  movement,  a  stately  head,  with  piercing 
eyes  and  coal-black  flowing  hair  and  beard,  he 
dressed  habitually  in  faultless  silk  hat,  black  frock- 
coat,  silk  or  velvet  waistcoat,  grey  trousers  and 
patent-leather  shoes.  These  things  appear  out  of 
place  on  some  men.  It  did  not  seem  as  though  Mr. 
Whittemore  could  wear  anything  else.  He  was  the 
portrait  of  a  gentleman,  a  figure  at  which  people 
would  have  turned  to  look  in  the  streets  of  any  city 
in  the  world. 

Like  most  original  thinkers,  he  was  in  advance  of 
his  time.     The  people  could  not  follow  so  fast  as  he 


XII  MEMORIAL   ADDRESS 

would  lead.  Dissensions  arose  about  the  school.  He 
was  stigmatized  as  a  theorist.  There  were  people 
who  would  have  called  him  a  crank,  if  that  term  had 
been  invented.  Some  of  his  innovations  were  so  rad- 
ical as  to  attract  sharp  if  ignorant  criticism.  Finally, 
various  petty  discontents  were  brought  together  in 
a  movement  against  him,  hardly  more  creditable 
in  form  than  in  purpose,  that  resulted  in  forcing 
him  from  the  school.  Master  of  his  own  art,  he 
could  not  encounter  the  town-meeting  champions,  and 
when  the  school  was  dragged  into  the  pit  of  town 
politics,  he  retired  from  an  ungrateful  contest  in 
which  he  would  have  esteemed  victory  no  better  than 
defeat. 

He  met  the  new  situation  by  opening  in  Milford  a 
private  normal  school.  It  was  popular  and  success- 
ful, but  after  a  few  years  he  abandoned  it  to  his  de- 
sire for  travel  and  study  in  Europe.  Returning  home 
after  a  year's  absence,  he  was  called  to  the  charge  of 
various  schools  and  science  classes,  principally  in 
Boston,  and  after  many  years  in  that  field  of  service 
he  retired  from  active  work  some  twenty  years  ago 
or  more,  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  this 
village. 

He  was  never  taken  at  his  true  value,  here  or  else- 
where. The  world  never  found  him  out.  Doctor  of 
Science  by  higher  authority  than  the  universities,  no 


WILLIAM    LEWIS    WHITTEMORE  XIII 

college  ever  claimed  his  service,  or  gave  him  its  degree. 
He  was  left  to  comparative  obscurity,  and  his  buried 
talents  largely  went  to  waste.  It  was  not  wholly  the 
fault  of  those  about  him.  To  those  who  knew  him  well 
there  was  no  more  kindly  or  companionable  man  or 
interesting  character,  but  he  was  by  nature  and  tem- 
perament shy  and  retiring  if  not  reserved.  He  was 
too  modest  for  self-assertion,  and  perhaps  too  sensitive 
for  successful  contact  with  the  world.  His  tastes 
were  the  tastes  of  the  scholar,  for  study,  which  leads 
to  seclusion,  and  in  his  advancing  age  the  hermit 
habit  grew  upon  him  until  his  life  became  almost  sol- 
itary. He  was  never  a  "  mixer,"  much  less  a  "hus- 
tler" ;  indeed  in  his  time  these  valued  products  of 
our  own  day  had  not  appeared.  He  always  felt  the 
duty  of  service,  but  he  never  would  put  himself  for- 
ward. He  could  easily  have  been  drawn  into  the 
public  activities  for  which  he  had  such  superior  gifts. 
He  had  only  to  be  asked,  and  he  was  not  asked. 
With  an  unsurpassed  knowledge  of  schools  and  edu- 
cational systems,  he  was  but  once,  I  believe,  made  a 
member  of  the  school  committee.  Familiar  with 
books,  and  thoroughly  understanding  the  educational 
and  other  uses  of  the  public  library,  he  was  never 
placed  upon  the  library  board.  A  few  years  ago  he 
made  the  town  a  generous  offer  of  contribution  to  a 
street  improvement  near  his  premises,  for  which  there 


XIV  MEMORIAL    ADDRESS 

was  a  crying  need.  In  return  for  his  public  spirit, 
the  town  gave  him  denial  and  detraction.  He  bore 
it  in  silence  and  without  complaint,  but  it  worked 
deeply  upon  his  feelings  and  I  do  not  think  he  ever 
recovered  from  it.  Thus  did  his  neighbors  and 
townspeople  deal  with  a  man  who  would  have 
adorned  a  chair  in  any  college  or  brought  distinction 
to  any  community  that  knew  how  to  utilize  him.  It 
is  not  agreeable  to  recall  these  things,  but  we  speak 
of  the  dead  only  for  the  benefit  of  the  living.  Neglect 
and  injustice  can  hurt  him  no  more.  The  measure 
of  the  public  loss  will  never  be  taken,  but  the  example 
stands,  for  instruction  if  not  for  reproof. 

Of  Mr.  Whittemore's  religious  views  I  speak  with 
diffidence,  but  it  is  customary,  and  he  would  have 
nothing  kept  back.  I  suppose  that  we  have  all 
observed  a  tendency  in  the  clergy,  if  my  friend 
beside  me  here  will  pardon  the  remark,  to 
make  the  departed  a  devout  Christian  who  perhaps 
was  never  under  suspicion  of  piety  by  his  nearest 
friends.  It  may  be  a  harmless  hypocrisy,  but  stand- 
ing by  the  body  of  our  old  friend  I  would  make  no 
professions  for  him  dead  that  he  did  not  make  for 
himself  living.  He  was  not  what  would  commonly 
be  accounted  a  religious  man.  If  he  ever  was  con- 
nected with  any  church,  he  had  no  active  or  visible 
connection  with  any  in  his  later  years.     I  think  that 


WILLIAM    LEWIS    WHITTEMORE  XV 

all  churches  and  creeds  were  much  alike  to  him,  and 
I  am  sure  that  he  had  little  respect  for  professions, 
and  none  for  pretences,  of  piety.  He  rarely  talked 
of  religion,  and  I  take  the  absence  of  lip-service  as 
one  evidence,  at  least,  that  he  had  a  religious  nature. 
He  was  a  reader  of  the  Bible.  He  must  have  felt  in 
his  soul  the  solemn  majesty  and  authority  of  some  of 
the  Hebrew  scriptures,  and  I  believe  that  he  accepted 
the  precepts  of  the  New  Testament  as  a  perfect  moral 
code  for  a  regenerated  world,  and  tried  to  make  them 
the  guide  of  his  life.  He  did  what  the  prophet  says 
the  Lord  required  of  him,  to  do  justly,  love  mercy 
and  walk  humbly  and  without  guile  before  God  and 
man.  Perhaps  his  view  of  outward  religion  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  familiar  lines  in  which  Pope  gave  the 
world  a  creed  to  which  increasing  numbers  adhere  : 

"  For  modes  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight ; 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

I  cannot  take  leave  of  my  old  preceptor  without 
acknowledging  my  great  debt  to  him.  With  later 
experience  of  two  academies,  and  a  college,  I  can 
truly  say  that  all  I  ever  learned  in  schools  and  was 
able  to  keep,  or  found  worth  keeping,  was  learned 
from  him.  I  see  here  to-day  as  many,  perhaps,  of 
his  old  flock  as  are  likely  to  meet  again  in  this  world, 
and  it  cannot  be  unwelcome  to  them  if  I  express  what 
must  be  the  common  feeling,  a  sense  of  grateful  and 


XVI  MEMORIAL   ADDRKSS 

affectionate  obligation  for  the  lasting  benefits  received 
at  his  hand.  He  did  not  try  to  educate  us.  He  did 
better.  With  deeper  insight,  he  taught  us  to  use 
our  own  faculties  in  educating  ourselves,  the  begin- 
ning and  the  end  of  real  education,  and  if  we  have 
not  profited  by  the  lesson  it  is  no  fault  of  the  master. 
It  is  the  good  fortune  of  the  teacher  that  the  stuff 
in  which  he  works  is  not  of  clay,  but  imperishable. 
His  material  is  the  human  mind,  the  youthful  mind, 
plastic  and  sensitive,  "  wax  to  receive  and  marble  to 
retain."  Every  pupil  becomes  a  new  center  of  his 
influence,  taking  up  his  work,  perhaps  unconsciously, 
and  carrying  it  out  to  a  wider  circle  and  on  to  a  new 
age.  His  harvest  is  reaped  only  to  be  resown  and 
gathered  an  hundred  fold.  Such  was  the  happy  lot  of 
our  old  mentor  and  friend  to  whom  we  now  bid  fare- 
well. So  shall  he  live  again,  long  after  his  body 
has  mingled  with  its  native  dust,  as  the  seed  of  his 
sowing  blossoms  anew  and  bears  fruit  in  regions 
which  his  foot  never  trod,  for  those  who  never  heard 
the  sound  of  his  name. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Memorial   Address v-xvi 

Introduction xix— xxn 

PART  I 

General   Principles  and   Historical   Sketch  .     .     .        1-36 

PART  II 

Illustrative   Examples 1—87 

PART  III 

School    Reports     1-100 


INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 

In  1852  the  author  was  a  student  in  Harvard 
College,  and  while  working  under  the  direction  of 
Professor  Louis  Agassiz  he  became  interested  in  the 
11  new"  or  scientific  method  of  education.  From  that 
time,  during  nearly  forty  years,  he  labored  as  student 
and  teacher  to  understand  that  method  better,  and  to 
put  it  into  practice  in  the  school  room. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  state  in  brief  what 
the  author  believes  to  be  the  principles  of  the  new 
method  of  education  and  to  give  some  idea  by  exam- 
ples as  to  how  those  principles  were  applied  in  his 
own  school. 

The  last  one  hundred  pages  of  the  book  consist  of 
school  documents  which  have  been  reprinted  in  order 
to  show  through  what  difficulties  the  new  method 
of  education  has  been  obliged  to  force  its  way  to 
the  small  measure  of  success  it  has  achieved  in  our 
public  schools. 

People  are  satisfied  with  the  old  ways  long  after 
better  ways  have  been  discovered  and  demonstrated, 
not  only  in  the  domain  of  education,  but  in  every  field 
where  progress  is  possible.  As  an  illustration,  the 
story  of  the  locomotive  may  be  told  in  a  few  words. 

About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  several 
men  from  European  Universities  and  Scientific  Soci- 


XXII  INTRODUCTION 

eties  combined  their  efforts  to  utilize  the  invention  of 
Hero,  made  eighteen  hundred  years  before.  As  Hero 
could  turn  a  wheel  rapidly  by  steam-power,  these 
men  believed  that  by  study  and  experiment  steam 
could  be  made  to  move  a  system  of  wheels  and 
machinery  and  accomplish  work.  Their  success 
was  sufficient  to  encourage  others  to  take  up 
the  work  in  the  eighteenth  century,  among  them 
James  Watt,  whose  great  genius  and  persistent  work 
for  many  years  gave  to  the  world  the  modern  steam- 
engine  which  is  to-day  doing  the  work  of  millions  of 
men. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  another  great 
genius,  George  Stephenson  of  England,  added  to  the 
work  of  Watt,  and  in  thirty  years  of  wonderful  suc- 
cess, the  engine  became  a  powerful  locomotive,  moving 
trains  of  cars  from  city  to  city.  People  who  wished 
to  travel  could  sit  comfortably  as  in  any  house 
and  travel  further  in  one  hour  than  they  had  ever 
been  able  to  go  in  a  long,  tedious  day.  But  there 
was  only  one  in  ten  thousand  who  wanted  any  help 
from  Stephenson.  He  was  hindered  in  every  way  and 
derided  by  the  best  people  of  England  for  years 
after  he  had  proved  to  himself  that  the  power  for 
a  locomotive  was  in  his  engine. 


PART  I 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 
HISTORICAL    SKETCH 


GENERAL    PRINCIPLES 

There  are  two,  and  only  two,  methods  of  education 
in  the  world  —  the  scientific  method  and  the  literary 
method.  All  variations  are  easily  classified  in  one  or 
the  other  of  these  two  methods.  The  basis  of  the 
scientific  method,  often  called  the  new  education,  is 
all  nature  and  all  art.  The  basis  of  the  literary 
method  is  books.  Books  constitute  a  very  important 
branch  of  art  ;  hence  books  are  included  for  all  they 
are  worth,  in  the  scientific  method.  But  wherever 
books  are  made  the  basis  of  education,  civilization 
remains  nearly  stationary.  This  has  been  the  condi- 
tion of  China  for  centuries,  and  of  South  America 
from  the  earliest  European  settlements.  Books  can 
never  yield  that  kind  of  knowledge  which  has  trans- 
formed European  and  American  civilization  during 
the  last  two  hundred  years. 

How  did  this  broad  wave  of  mental  force  which  has 
given  us  all  modern  civilization,  originate  ?  What 
are  the  principles  on  which  it  depends,  and  what  are 
the   laws   of    its   progress  ? 

The  men  who  accomplished  this  work  prepared 
themselves  for  it  by  reading  a  volume  ever  open  to 
us  all,  a  book  in  which  the  letters  are  suns  and 
worlds,  the  forces  which  build  the  elements  into  living 
forms,  and  all  the  varied  phenomena  of  nature.     They 


4  THE    NEW    METHOD 

were  such  men  as  Newton,  Morse  and  Watt,  and  they 
worked  mainly  according  to  the  method  of  the 
Arabian  schools  of  the  seventh  to  the  tenth  centuries. 

The  principles  of  this  method,  the  scientific  method, 
are  few  and  simple,  and  so  in  harmony  with  the  laws  of 
human  development,  that  the  youngest  child  in  our 
schools  is  delighted  in  their  daily  use,  and  ascends 
the  hill  of  science  and  sound  learning  without  weari- 
ness, finding  every  lesson  as  interesting  and  health- 
ful as  play  itself.  In  accord  with  these  principles 
the  human  race    has  made   all  its  progress. 

In  the  following  six  or  eight  pages  the  attempt  is 
made  to  suggest  in  a  few  instances  the  application  of 
these  principles  to  the  mental  development  of  the  child 
and  to  the  development  of  the  race  from  barbarism. 

The  objects  which  are  the  most  essential  to  our 
well-being  are  those  which  are  the  most  interesting  : 
the  rising  and  setting  sun,  the  revolving  stars  and 
planets,  a  million  species  of  living  things,  plant  and 
animal,  gems  innumerable  "of  purest  ray  serene." 
These  objects  all  remind  us'  that  we  inhabit  a 
world  of  cause  and  effect  —  a  world  in  which  eternal 
and  unchanging  laws  encircle  us,  and  reign  supreme. 
Since  we  live  in  a  realm  of  law,  how  shall  we  study 
and  comprehend  it  ? 

We  must  go  down  into  principles  —  into  nature, 
and  proceed  at   every   step   in  accordance  with   the 


OF    EDUCATION  5 

nature  of  the  child.  Through  the  years  between  in- 
fancy and  the  school  age,  the  child  shows  us  in  a  de- 
cided way  the  direction  in  which  nature  impels  him 
and  guides  his  activities,  and  hence,  the  direction  in 
which  we  ought  to  help  him  to  go.  To  the  child,  the 
sky,  the  great  blue  dome  which  bends  over  the  land- 
scape, is  a  real  canopy  directly  over  his  playgrounds. 
Here  he  is  delighted  all  day  long  in  every  object  of 
sense  —  in  every  novelty  of  sound,  color  and  form,  in 
every  bird,  beast  and  insect,  in  the  beautiful  forms 
and  colors  of  plants  and  flowers,  in  the  moving  clouds  ; 
and  even  the  solid  earth  and  sand  and  pebbles  he 
treads  upon  —  all  are  objects  of  interest,  objects  of 
study,  and  of  wonder.  Here  in  the  realities  of  the 
world,  so  near  at  hand,  are  the  perfect  lessons  for 
intellectual  and  moral  culture,  infinite  in  number  and 
variety,  created  and  perpetually  renewed  by  Infinite 
Wisdom,  for  infinite  good. 

Something  of  every  science  and  art  should  be 
learned  by  children  as  soon  as  they  can  put  it  to  use. 
This  is  the  best,  if  not  the  only  way  of  making  facts 
permanent  and  always  available.  It  is  the  child's 
nature  to  observe,  and  as  soon  as  he  can  talk  he  wants 
to  tell  every  detail  of  his  observation  and  experience. 
This  oral  report  seems  to  be  an  essential  part  of  his 
life.  He  continually  brings  the  words  he  has  learned 
into  use,  and  this  gives  him  complete  success  in  ex- 


6  THE    NEW    METHOD 

pressing  his  ideas  in  words.  In  school  the  child  must 
soon  begin  to  widen  and  improve  his  method  by 
recording  the  results  of  observation  in  writing  and 
drawing.  This  very  soon  interests  him  even  more 
than  his  oral  method,  which  will  still  be  useful 
to  him. 

All  nature  is  a  unit,  and  the  science  of  nature  is 
only  one  science.  The  division  of  science  into  a 
dozen  branches  is  right  in  the  advanced  stages  of 
education,  but  in  primary  and  grammar  schools  it  is 
absurd,  and  fatal  to  progress.  In  all  grades  below 
the  high  school  all  studies  are  to  be  correlated,  and 
learned  as  one  subject.  Children  are  always  in- 
terested in  this  work,  and  they  make  easy  and  rapid 
progress  in  the  arts  of  reading,  spelling,  writing,  com- 
position, punctution,  drawing,  and  use  of  capitals, 
as  well  as  in  every  branch  of  science. 

Whatever  a  child  learns  in  school  should  be 
organized  for  his  immediate  use.  Each  lesson  must 
involve  principles  which  can  be  used,  and  will  be  used 
in  the  child's  free  activities,  in  school  and  out  of 
school.  So  far  as  it  goes  a  child's  education  must 
always  be  complete.  From  the  beginning  it  must  be 
a  little  system  of  philosophy  for  the  child's  use  :  and 
it  must  be  so  pleasing  and  attractive  to  him,  that 
he  will  always  want  to  extend  and  widen  it.  The 
government  of  such  a  school  is  very  easy  ;  for  children 


OF    EDUCATION  7 

do  not  get  out  of    order   when  their    work    is    more 
interesting  than  play. 

The  basis  of  a  child's  education  must  be  his  own 
observation,  and  not  the  observation  of  another  who 
has  written  a  book  or  a  reading  lesson  for  him.  He 
wants  original  ideas,  not  second-hand  ideas.  He 
is  not  satisfied  with  the  shadows  of  ideas  which  come 
through  words.  By  oral  instruction  and  reading  he 
may  derive  interesting  and  useful  information,  but 
information  is  not  education,  it  is  not  intellectual 
power,  without  which  all  education  is  radically  de- 
fective. True  education  comes  mainly  through  the 
inductive  method.  Every  child,  in  the  freedom  of 
nature,  intuitively  educates  himself  in  this  method. 
He  correlates  and  organizes  impressions  of  all  kinds 
through  all  the  years  preceding  the  school  age,  and 
he  enters  school  with  his  education  well  begun.  He 
has  learned  something  of  every  branch  of  science, 
and  at  the  same  time  has  learned  a  language  more 
thoroughly  and  in  less  time  than  the  schools  have 
yet  been  able  to  teach  one.  He  has  learned  more  of 
his  environment  than  he  will  ever  learn  in  school  in 
the  same  length  of  time.  The  reason  for  his  wonder- 
ful advance  in  education  in  these  years  of  early  child- 
hood, is  because  his  method  has  been  natural  instead 
of   artificial. 

All  the  great  branches  of  learning  should  be  intro- 


8  THE    NEW    METHOD 

duced  during  the  first  week  of  school,  not  by  separate 
lessons  in  each,  but  all  combined  in  nature  study. 
As  all  parts  of  the  world  are  interwoven  with  each 
other,  so  are  all  branches  of  science  intimately  con- 
nected, and  must  be  presented  to  the  child  as  a  single 
subject.  The  time  for  children  to  learn  the  spelling, 
meaning,  and  use  of  words  is  when  they  have  occa- 
sion to  use  them  to  express  their  own  original  ideas. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  grammar,  arithmetic,  and 
all  other  branches  to  be  studied  before  the  age  of 
twelve.  True  education  from  the  first  is  a  many-sided 
unit,  and  each  side  is  kept  bright  by  constant  use. 

Among  the  popular  criticisms  upon  our  schools, 
there  have  been  complaints  of  too  many  branches  of 
study  ;  but  really  there  is  but  one  subject  in  the  true 
method.  It  is  natural  for  children  to  play  ;  but  in 
play  they  do  many  different  things  in  a  single  game. 
They  use  the  sense  of  sight,  the  sense  of  hearing ; 
they  walk,  run,  jump,  talk,  laugh  and  sing.  Chil- 
dren's play  is  made  up  of  many  parts,  just  as  a  lesson 
in  school  has,  or  ought  to  have,  many  parts  or  kinds 
of  activity. 

In  the  true  methods  of  school  work,  the  teacher 
must  observe  the  law  of  nature  or  his  work  will  be  a 
failure.  He  must  do  nothing  for  the  child  that  the 
child  can  do  for  himself.  General  information  may 
be  derived  from  books  and  oral  instruction,  but  these 


OF    EDUCATION  9 

can  never  give  intellectual  and  moral  power,  which 
are  the  essential  elements  of  true  education.  Until 
the  child  educates  himself  by  his  own  efforts,  wisely 
guided  by  the  teacher,  he  will  be  very  poorly  educated. 

The  study  of  nature  in  our  schools  awakens  the 
child  into  intellectual  life,  and  establishes  in  him  the 
love  of  the  beautiful,  the  true  and  the  good.  It  en- 
ables the  teacher  to  organize  all  branches  of  study 
into  one  symmetrical  science,  in  which  each  branch 
helps  to  give  meaning  and  interest  to  all  the  others. 
It  converts  the  unnatural  and  wearing  drudgery  of 
the  school  room  into  the  most  delightful  and  health- 
ful work  both  for  the  teacher  and  the  pupils.  It 
gives  us  health  and  strength  by  alluring  us  into  the 
pure  air  and  varied  scenery  of  the  open  landscape, 
for  the  observation  of  natural  objects  and  phenomena, 
and  the  collection  of  material  for  study. 

The  study  of  nature  enlivens  the  imagination  and 
awakens  the  latent  energies  of  the  child, —  adds 
strength  to  his  body,  variety,  activity  and  vigor  to 
his  mind.  Besides  saving  the  child  from  artificial 
stupidity  so  commonly  produced  by  the  arbitrary 
methods  of  the  old  education,  it  enables  him  to  learn 
more  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic  and  spelling  in 
one  week,  than  he  can  learn  in  a  month  in  the 
common  method. 

In  our  search    for  true    methods  in   education  we 


IO  THE    NEW    METHOD 

find  perfect  models  in  nature's  method  of  educating 
the  human  race  in  its  first  steps  in  civilization.  Na- 
ture does  absolutely  nothing  for  man  that  he  can 
possibly  do  for  himself ;  but  the  infinite  -sources  of 
light  and  truth,  with  all  their  beauties  and  harmonies, 
are  ever  all  about  him,  to  educate  him,  to  elevate  his 
thoughts  and  help  him  to  attain  to  wisdom. 

There  was  a  time  when  our  ancestors  saw  nothing 
around  them  but  wild  nature.  There  was  no  art. 
There  were  no  tools  of  any  kind  to  assist  the  savage 
in  making  a  beginning  in  art.  He  had  within  him 
the  germ  of  all  art  —  the  germ  of  all  science;  but 
without  the  stimulus  of  environment  that  germ  could 
no  more  expand  and  raise  him  out  of  his  savage 
state,  than  the  acorn  can  become  the  stately  oak 
without  the   light  and  heat  of  the  sun. 

The  awakening  of  man's  dormant  faculties  into  ac- 
tivity is  and  always  has  been  the  one  condition  of  his 
improvement.  Nature's  laboratories  were  in  full 
operation  preparing  for  the  coming  of  man  long  ages 
before  his  advent.  Although  the  primitive  man 
was  ignorant  of  everything  over  head,  around  him, 
and  under  foot,  the  crust  of  the  earth  was  a  great 
storehouse  of  perfect  material  for  the  architect,  the 
sculptor,  the  painter,  the  blacksmith,  the  copper- 
smith   and    the    goldsmith. 

Just   as    long    as   man   remained    ignorant   of    the 


OF    EDUCATION  I  I 

properties  of  these  things,  and  other  products  of 
nature,  he  was  to  remain  a  naked  savage,  sharing 
the  world  equally  with  the  wild  and  hungry 
beasts  that  howled  around  him.  He  was  at  liberty 
to  wait  a  thousand  years,  or  a  thousand  centuries. 
Houses  to  protect  him  by  night  from  the  lion 
and  the  tiger,  and  from  the  cold  storm,  would 
not  spring  up  out  of  the  ground  for  him.  Nor 
would  clothing  or  needles  and  thread,  nor  tools  for 
the  architect  grow  on  trees.  Nature  had  done  all 
that  ought  to  be  done,  and  could  wait  for  man  to  join 
his  work  with  hers.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  could 
the  arts  have  even  the  rudest  beginning.  This  was 
the  one  condition  of  progress,  and  is  to-day  the  one 
condition  of  progressive  civilization. 

In  the  last  analysis,  man's  observation  in  nature, 
or  what  we  call  nature  study,  is  the  sure  and  only 
foundation  and  source  of  all  civilization,  the  source 
of  all  science,  all  art.  The  savage  who  first  observed 
that  rocks  are  brittle,  and  can  be  broken  down  to  a 
cutting  edge,  was  the  father  of  all  sculptors.  His 
stone  hatchet,  so  useful  at  that  time,  is  of  no  value 
now  except  as  a  curiosity  and  a  help  in  the  study  of 
archaeology.  We  can  hardly  realize  how  rude  were 
the  beginnings  of  ail  man's  grandest  achievements. 

Architecture  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  impor- 
tant of  the  arts.     Through  innumerable  little  improve- 


12  THE    NEW    METHOD 

nients  at  long  intervals,  it  has  reached  a  good  degree 
of   excellence,  and  it  is  improving  faster  than  ever. 

The  barbarian  who  built  the  first  house  finished  it 
in  one  day.  With  a  modern  axe  he  could  have  done 
it  in  one  hour  ;  but  his  axe  was  only  a  sharp  stone, 
and  he  used  his  hand  and  arm  for  the  handle. 

The  primitive  house  had  a  ridge-pole,  and  that  is 
the  only  part  of  it  that  has  come  down  to  our  time. 
Each  end  of  the  pole  rested  on  the  branch  of  a  tree, 
and  for  the  walls  of  the  house  small  evergreen  trees 
stood  leaning  toward  each  other  and  the  pole.  The 
builder  was  well  pleased  with  his  house  and  thought 
it  was  perfect.  But  on  a  cold  morning  a  month  later 
the  children  were  found  covered  wTith  snow  which 
had  sifted  through  in  the  high  wind.  This  set  the 
architect  to  thinking  how  to  improve  his  house  and 
keep  his  family  dry  and  warm.  At  last  the  way  to 
do  it  dawned  upon  him,  and  soon  he  was  bringing 
hemlock  boughs  to  weave  thick  into  the  walls.  For 
a  while  the  house  was  again  thought  to  be  perfect. 
But  on  a  very  cold  day  a  fire  was  needed,  and  the  dry 
resinous  boughs  were  soon  in  flames. 

The  next  plan  was  a  fire-proof  house.  Rocks  were 
piled  one  upon  another  for  the  walls  ;  but  open  spaces 
between  them  let  in  the  cold  air  and  snow.  A  happy 
thought  the  next  rainy  day  resulted  in  plastering 
the  house  with  mud.  Soon  as  the  mud  was  dry  it 
crumbled  away  and  left  the  walls  as  they  were  before. 


OF    EDUCATION  1 3 


After  some  study  and  experimenting  with  mud  from 
several  places  a  sample  was  found  which  contained 
a  little  clay  mixed  with  the  sand,  and  this  became 
so  hard  and  firm  on  drying  that  it  lasted  a  long  time. 

These  little  occasional  improvements  of  many  kinds 
continued  for  centuries,  slowly  improving  the  house, 
increasing  the  cost,  and  making  the  architect's  work 
more  complex. 

Thus  it  has  been  with  every  branch  of  art  and 
science  from  the  rudest  beginning,  and  thus  it  will 
continue,  for  every  branch  is  progressive. 


HISTORICAL    SKETCH 

The  most  wonderful  of  all  civilizations  that  have  yet 
appeared  in  the  world  is  that  of  Greece.  The  Greeks 
not  only  originated  nearly  all  branches  of  science  and 
art  on  which  modern  civilization  rests,  but  they  dis- 
covered the  methods  which  have  made  real  progress 
in  education  possible.  More  than  two  thousand  years 
ago  the  science  of  education  was  the  culmination  of 
their  glory.  At  that  time  the  school-masters  were 
considered  the  true  luminaries  of  the  world,  and  they 
were  honored  above  all  other  men.  Only  the  bright- 
est intellects,  the  most  learned,  the  wisest  and  best 
men  could  become  teachers. 

About  six  hundred  years  before  Christ  the  phi- 
losophy of  the  Greeks  was  becoming  more  philosophic. 
Each  generation  was  correcting  the  errors  of  the  past, 
and  civilization  was  reaching  a  higher  standard. 
Three  men  of  learning  and  genius,  Solon,  the  Law- 
giver, Thales  and  Pythagoras,  philosophers  and 
teachers,  appeared  at  the  same  time.  They  gave 
their  energies  to  the  cause  of  education  and  philan- 
thropy. The  disciples  of  these  wise  men  became  the 
teachers  of  Socrates ;  Socrates  was  the  teacher  of 
Plato  ;  Plato  was  the  teacher  of  Aristotle  ;  Aristotle 
was  the  teacher  of  Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  first 
to  illustrate  all  the  principles  of  the   new  education. 


1 6  THE    NEW    METHOD 

With  Solon,  Thales,  and  Pythagoras,  came  the  dawn 
of  Greek  science,  which  culminated  in  Theophrastus, 
Aristotle,  Archimedes  and  the  Athenian  and  Alex- 
andrian schools.  Thus,  three  hundred  years  of  un- 
paralleled progress  had  established  in  Athens,  and  in 
Alexandria,  the  educational  methods  found  in  the  best 
schools  of  Europe  and  America  at  the  present  time. 
In  many  things  the  noted  Greek  teachers  all  differed  ; 
but  all  agreed  that  real  philosophy  comes  to  us  through 
the  diligent  search  after  wisdom  in  the  book  of  nature  ; 
and  that  all  men  ought  to  reflect  in  their  lives  the  im- 
age of  that  order  and  harmony  by  which  the  universe 
is  sustained  and  regulated. 

Theophrastus  was  the  first  scientific  writer  upon 
botany  and  mineralogy  that  the  world  ever  produced. 
He  wrote  five  volumes  upon  minerals,  and  ten  upon 
plants. 

Aristotle  was  the  father  of  zoology.  He  wrote  fifty 
volumes  upon  the  animal  kingdom.  Archimedes 
and  Euclid  were  the  greatest  of  ancient  mathema- 
ticians, and  have  never  been  excelled.  Pythagoras, 
Apollonius,  Hipparchus,  and  Aristarchus  explained 
the  solar  system  as  we  understand  it  to-day.  But  their 
wisdom  was  completely  smothered  in  Europe  by  the 
long  dark  ages. 

Aristotle  was  born  B.  C.  384.  He  was  a  pupil  of 
Plato  for  twenty  years  in  the  great  school  at  Athens, 
and  then  had  charge  of  the  same  school.     He  soon 


OF    EDUCATION  I  7 

received  a  letter  from  Philip,  the  King  of  Maeedon, 
as  follows  :  "Be  informed,  O  Aristotle,  that  I  have  a 
son,  and  that  I  am  thankful,  not  so  much  for  his  birth, 
as  that  he  was  born  in  the  same  age  with  you  ;  for  if 
you  will  undertake  the  charge  of  his  education,  I 
assure  myself  that  he  will  become  worthy  of  his  father, 
and  of  the  kingdom  which  he  will  inherit.' 

Philip's  son  was  Alexander  the  Great.  Alexander 
was  soon  with  Aristotle,  and  remained  with  him  eight 
years,  when  he  ascended  the  throne  at  twenty  years 
of  age.  During  these  years  Alexander  fully  appreci- 
ated his  advantages  and  made  remarkable  attain- 
ments in  all  directions.  He  saw  so  much  to  admire  in 
Aristotle's  methods  that  he  became,  from  that  time, 
an  enthusiastic  patron  of  learning  ;  and  his  first  act 
on  the  throne  was  to  furnish  Aristotle  with  material 
and  all  necessary  appliances  for  the  illustration  of  his 
methods  in  the  school  at  Athens.  To  accomplish  this 
without  delay,  Alexander  sent  several  thousand 
learned  men  to  all  parts  of  the  known  world  to  collect 
material  for  the  illustration  of  every  science.  But  to 
make  a  model  school  at  Athens  was  only  the  beginning 
of  Alexander's  influence  upon  education.  Ambitious 
as  a  conquerer  of  nations,  he  was  still  more  ambitious 
in  making  a  better  civilization  for  all  men. 

It  was  Alexander's  ambition  to  conquer  all  nations, 
and  combine  all  nations  into  one  empire  whose  insti- 
tutions should  all  be  permeated  by  the  learning  and 


I 8  THE    NEW    METHOD 

wisdom  of  Greece.  He  was  maturing  a  mighty  scheme 
for  collecting  all  knowledge,  for  the  increase  of  knowl- 
edge, and  its  diffusion  throughout  the  world.  The 
first  move  toward  carrying  out  this  plan  was  to  invade 
and  overthrow  the  rich  and  populous  Persian  empire. 
Persia  had  an  area  half  as  large  as  Europe,  and  next 
to  Greece,  was  the  most  learned  and  cultured  part  of 
the  world.  It  included  all  that  remained  of  the  older 
civilizations  of  Babylon,  Egypt,  Assyria,  Chaldea, 
and  Mesopotamia.  The  largest  armies  ever  led  to 
battle  had  been  the  Persian  armies  under  Xerxes  and 
Darius  for  the  invasion  of  Greece. 

In  the  spring  of  334  B.C.,  Alexander,  with  an  army 
of  only  40,000  men,  crossed  the  Hellespont,  and  en- 
tered the  Persian  empire.  Slowly  he  moved  toward 
Egypt,  conquered  every  city  on  the  way,  and  defeated 
the  array  of  Darius  numbering  700,000  men.  While 
in  Egypt  he  founded  the  city  of  Alexandria,  which 
he  designed  for  the  educational  metropolis  of  the 
world.  Soon  after  this  Alexander  renewed  his  march 
toward  other  great  cities  of  Persia.  After  crossing 
the  Euphrates  he  again  defeated  the  army  of  Darius, 
numbering  a  million  men.  The  gates  of  many  opulent 
cities,  with  all  their  treasures,  were  now  open  to  the 
Greeks.  Thence,  the  victorious  army  marched  easter- 
ly to  the  Ganges  river,  conquered  all  that  remained 
of  Persia,  invaded  India,  defeated  King  Porus,  and 
took  possession  of  thirty  cities  of  India. 


OF    EDUCATION  I 9 

Of  all  military  campaigns,  this  was  the  most  re- 
markable, both  in  its  purposes  and  its  results.  To 
thousands  of  learned  Greeks  the  march  through  Persia 
was  much  more  than  a  military  campaign.  It  was  a 
thorough  scientific  study  of  the  country  through  which 
they  marched.  At  times  it  was  like  a  grand  excursion 
for  sightseeing,  recreation,  and  scientific  observation, 
over  a  large,  rich  and  populous  country,  abounding 
in  the  wonderful  in  nature  and  art. 

As  soon  as  Alexander  had  conquered  Egypt  and  the 
better  half  of  Asia,  he  prepared  to  continue  his  march 
to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  and  take  possession  of  all 
Asia  in  a  single  campaign.  But  his  arm}7  had  left 
their  homes  eight  years  before,  and  refused  to  march 
any  farther  except  toward  their  native  land. 

Alexander  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  his  faithful 
warriors  and  soon  returned  to  Babylon,  which  he  in- 
tended to  make  the  capital  of  the  prospective  new 
empire.  In  the  midst  of  great  plans  for  the  recon- 
struction of  his  vast  dominions,  the  completion  of  his 
educational  plans,  and  the  future  conquest  of  the  rest 
of  the  world,  came  Alexander's  death,  in  the  thirty- 
third  year  of  his  age. 

The  result  of  Alexander's  conquests  in  Asia  and 
Africa  we  are  to  consider  only  in  its  educational  in- 
fluence. But  the  grandest  movement  in  education 
that  the  world  has  ever  seen  had  already  been  formu- 
lated.    Alexander  had  made  Ptolemy  the  governor  of 


20  THE    NEW    METHOD 

Egypt,  to  have  control  of  the  educational  interests  of 
the  world.  On  the  death  of  Alexander,  Ptolemy  be- 
came king  of  Egypt.  For  carrying  out  the  plan  of 
Alexander,  Ptolemy  had  in  his  treasury  $400,000,000 
in  gold  and  silver. 

The  magnificence  of  the  buildings  reared  for  the 
Alexandrian  school  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe. 
They  were  built  by  the  greatest  architects  of  Greece, 
and  adorned  by  the  greatest  sculptors  the  world  has 
ever  known.  Surrounding  these  buildings  were  botan- 
ical gardens,  filled  with  the  living  representatives  of 
the  flora  of  all  nations  ;  zoological  gardens  represent- 
ing the  living  forms  of  the  land  and  the  sea  ;  great 
temples  filled  with  paintings,  sculpture,  and  every  art 
of  the  known  world.  Still  more  important  than  these 
was  the  library  of  700,000  volumes,  by  far  the  largest 
library  of  antiquity.  In  short  everything  was  done 
that  could  help  to  make  a  school  for  the  collection  of 
all  knowledge,  for  the  increase  of  knowledge  by 
scientific  investigation,  and  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge throughout  the  world.  Under  the  reign  of  the 
Ptolemies  the  Alexandrian  school  continued  about 
three  hundred  years,  until  Egypt  became  a  Roman 
province.  During  this  time  it  had  reached  its  greatest 
excellence.  The  students  were  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  the  average  number  for  three  centuries 
had  been  twelve  thousand. 

Under  Roman   dominion   the  school   was  not  kept 


OF    EDUCATION  21 

up  to  the  high  standard  of  its  illustrious  founders, 
or  the  luxury  and  indolence  of  the  East  had  taken 
the  place  of  the  love  of  learning.  But  the  methods 
of  that  school  had  been  carried  by  its  patrons  to 
various  parts  of  the  world,  and  had  taken  root  in 
many  a  school  in  Arabia  and  Persia  and  in  Europe., 
But  the  long  dark  ages,  that  followed  the  downfall  of 
the  Roman  empire,  blotted  out  of  all  Europe  nearly 
every  trace  of  the  intellectual  light  that  had  originated 
in  the  Greek  civilization.  But  in  Asia,  where  Alex- 
ander a  thousand  years  before  had  collected  the  gold 
to  establish  the  great  school,  the  science  of  the  Greeks 
had  been  kept  alive,  and  under  its  influence  the  Arab- 
ians and  Syrians  became  a  progressive  people.  Before 
the  ninth  century  they  had  excelled  in  learning  all 
the  nations  of  the  world  at  that  time,  and  they  held 
that  position  for  many  centuries. 

Although  Alexandria  was  partly  destroyed,  and 
what  Caesar  had  left  of  the  great  library  was  burned, 
the  ultimate  effect  of  the  Arabian  wars  of  conquest 
in  the  seventh  century  was  to  stimulate  intellectual 
activity,  and  greatly  accelerate  the  progress  of  sound 
learning.  For  the  conquering  armies,  after  they  had 
well-nigh  destroyed  the  results  of  Greek  learning  and 
culture,  as  they  saw  the  ruined  palaces,  adorned  with 
every  art,  as  they  thought  of  the  half  million  rare 
books  which  they  had  destroyed,  they  became  more 
thoughtful,  and  repented  of  their  wanton  destruction 


22  THE    NEW    METHOD 

of  the  very  source  of  all  the  splendor  of  the  ruins 
that  surrounded  them.  They  soon  began  to  cultivate 
the  civilization  of  the  conquered  people,  and  restore 
to  the  world  what  they  had  destroyed.  Books  were 
collected  at  great  expense  from  all  sources,  and  trans- 
lated into  Arabic.  Schools  and  colleges  sprang  up, 
and  learning  revived  in  every  part  of  the  great 
empire. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eighth  century  a  Spanish 
noble  requested  Musa,  the  governor  of  Egypt,  to  send 
a  military  force  to  Spain  to  correct  the  tyranny  of 
King  Roderic,  the  usurper.  Seven  thousand  men  led 
by  the  brave  general  Tarik  soon  landed  at  Gibraltar, 
and  in  two  years  had  taken  nearly  all  Spain.  Tarik 
established  in  Spain  the  best  known  civilization, 
giving  all  Europe  the  means  of  rising  above  the  thral- 
dom of  ignorance  and  barbarism,  and  eventually 
bringing  the  dark  ages  to  a  close.  From  time  to  time 
thousands  of  the  cultured  families  of  western  Asia 
and  northern  Africa  were  attracted  to  Spain  by  the 
genial  climate,  beautiful  scenery,  and  fertile  soil. 
Schools,  colleges  and  universities  were  founded  in  the 
Alexandrian  methods.  A  high  civilization  sprang  up 
and  flourished  for  nearly  eight  centuries.  It  became 
the  best  civilization  in  the  world  at  that  time.  It 
held  that  position  until  Europe  had  founded,  on  the 
Arabian  models,  learned  societies  and  academies  in 
every  capital  and  large  city. 


OF    EDUCATION  23 

The  most  enlightened  artisans  of  Asia  were  induced 
to  settle  in  Spain  and  introduce  the  arts  of  civilized 
life.  The  improved  productive  arts  soon  brought  the 
comforts,  conveniences  and  necessities  of  life  within 
the  reach  of  all.  The  decorative  arts  furnished  orna- 
ments and  elegance  in  dress  and  furniture.  Spain 
became  the  garden  and  market  place  of  Europe. 
The  neat,  polite  and  well-dressed  people  made  a  strik- 
ing contrast  with  merchants  from  France,  Germany 
and  England,  dressed  in  sheepskin  or  the  untanned 
hides  of  other  animals. 

The  wealth,  learning,  elegance  and  refinement  of 
Spain,  nearly  equaled  that  of  the  best  parts  of  Europe 
at  the  present  time.  Cordova,  the  capital  of  Anda- 
lusia in  the  tenth  century,  had  a  population  of  a  mil- 
lion. They  had  a  library  of  600,000  volumes.  Seville, 
Toledo,  Grenada  and  sixty  other  cities  and  towns  each 
had  a  large  library,  some  of  them  rivaling  that  of 
Cordova. 

Here,  after  a  precarious  existence  for  centuries,  was 
the  beginning  in  Europe  of  that  modernized  Greek 
civilization  which  was  to  spread  over  the  entire  con- 
tinent. One  man  in  ten  thousand  saw  the  promise  of 
better  days  for  Europe  from  this  source,  and  sent  his 
sons  to  the  Cordovan  schools.  Every  student  on  re- 
turning home  became  the  nucleus  of  a  secret  society 
for  the  promotion  of  learning.  Men  of  worthy  motives 
and  independent  judgment  began  to  increase  in  all 


24  THE    NEW    METHOD 

the  populous  centres.  But  there  was  .no  safety  for 
such  men  till  the  seventeenth  century.  Still  the  work 
went  on  with  increasing  numbers  and  greater  bold- 
ness. Learned  societies  were  established  on  a  larger 
scale,  and  more  openly.  The  intellectual  element  had 
become  uncontrollable. 

The  Academia  Secretomm  Nature?  was  founded  at 
Naples  in  1560;  the  Lyncean  Academy  in  Rome, 
1603;  the  Royal  Society,  London,  1645;  the  Accadcmia 
del  Cimcnto,  Florence,  1657  ;  Royal  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, Paris,  1666.  These  and  many  other  learned 
societies  were  all  organized  on  the  Greek  models. 
Only  the  Greek  methods  have  ever  produced  such 
men  as  Copernicus,  Galileo,  Kepler,  Newton,  Napier, 
and  Lavoisier.  These  and  other  illustrious  names 
were  the  peers  of  Archimedes,  Ptolemy,  Apollonius, 
Euclid,  Aristotle,  and  Hero. 

Historians  have  never  given  due  credit  to  the 
Arabians  for  what  they  did  in  the  darkest  part  of  the 
dark  ages  to  save  the  results  of  Greek  civilization 
from  oblivion.  National  vanity  and  a  difference  in 
race  and  religion  explain  their  treatment  in  Christian 
Europe.  But  their  religion  led  them  to  be  temperate 
in  all  things,  tolerant,  kind  and  true  to  all  men.  It 
led  them  to  cultivate  neatness,  elegance,  courage, 
chivalry,  justice,  and  personal  honor.  But  all  Europe 
combined  to  destroy  them.  Each  century  diminished 
the  Arabian  territory,  and  what  could  not  be  done  by 


OF    EDUCATION  25 

war,  was  done  at  last  by  the  fires  of  the  inquisition 
—  the  most  cruel  device  to  stifle  liberty  ever  organized 
by  barbarians,  or  by  half  civilized  fanatics.  Thus 
perished  millions  of  Arabs,  Moors  and  Jews,  after 
having  been  a  model  for  European  progress  from  the 
earliest  efforts  of  Europe  to  rise  out  of  the  darkness 
of  the  middle  ages. 

Four  hundred  years  ago  there  was  not  a  newspaper 
nor  a  common  school  in  all  Europe.  In  the  best  parts 
of  Europe  only  one  person  in  a  thousand  could  read 
and  write.  In  other  parts,  including  England  and  all 
northern  Europe,  not  one  in  ten  thousand  could  either 
read  or  write.  Very  few  people  cared  to  know  these 
useful  arts  which  all  civilized  nations  now  consider  so 
essential.  The  first  permanent  newspaper  in  Europe 
was  published  in  Italy  soon  after  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  Seventy  years  later  the  "  Gazette 
de  France  "  was  published  in  Paris.  The  newspaper 
followed  close  upon  the  common  school.  Our  English 
ancestors  had  neither  of  them  till  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  art  of  printing,  the  common 
school,  and  the  newspaper,  in  a  general  way  mark  the 
end  of  the  dark  ages  which  ruled  over  Europe  more 
than  a  thousand  years. 

We  can  hardly  realize  the  condition  of  our  ancestors 
three  hundred  years  ago.  Their  houses  were  built 
of  sticks  and  reeds  covered  over  with  mud.  There 
was  no  chimney  to  carry  out  the  smoke,  and  no  glass 


26  THE    NEW    METHOD 

to  admit  the  light.  Their  tables  and  chairs  were  logs 
of  wood  set  on  end.  Their  beds  were  bags  of  straw 
seldom  renewed,  and  a  log  for  a  pillow.  Their  clothing 
was  made  of  leather  or  the  untanned  hides  of  animals, 
with  no  underclothing.  Their  food  was  chiefly  beans, 
peas,  fern  roots  and  the  bark  of  trees.  Their  houses 
and  door-yards  were  filthy  beyond  expression.  Only 
one  child  in  four  lived  to  be  twenty.  There  were  no 
sanitary  conditions  anywhere.  The  population  was 
constantly  thinned  by  pestilence,  want,  and  the  most 
appalling  barbarities.  The  church  was  an  organ  for 
extorting  money,  and  the  clergy  were  the  most  crimi- 
nal class  of  people. 

The  ignorance,  superstition  and  anarchy  that  ruled 
in  Europe  through  the  middle  ages  were  not  quite 
but  almost  universal.  A  few  thousand  families,  scat- 
tered here  and  there  over  Europe,  lived  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  in  a  civilized  way  as  far  as  it  was 
possible  in  the  midst  of  conditions  worse  than  bar- 
barian. They  remembered  the  achievements  of  their 
ancestors  in  the  ancient  empires  that  had  passed 
away,  and  through  their  own  efforts  they  had  long 
hoped  to  see  the  dawn  of  a  new  civilization  for  the 
future  of  Europe.  Five  centuries  of  anarchy,  war  and 
confusion  had  been  endured,  with  no  change  ex- 
cept increasing  violence  and  barbarism. 

In  the  tenth  century  a  ray  of  intellectual  light  ap- 
peared in  the  south-west  of  Europe  but  it  served  at 


OF    EDUCATION  27 

first   only  to    make  the  surrounding   darkness  more 
apparent. 

A  foreign  race  had  settled  in  Spain  in  the  eighth 
century,  and  had  established  great  universities  for  the 
promotion  of  science  and  civilization.  They  had  made 
Gibraltar  the  stronghold,  not  only  of  military  power, 
but  of  intellectual  and  moral  force.  Here  they  built 
a  line  of  colleges  and  universities,  extending  from 
Gibraltar  a  hundred  miles  toward  the  Pyrenees,  and 
opened  their  doors  to  the  young  men  of  all  nations. 
Practically,  the  Alexandrian  school  of  the  Ptolemies 
had  been  reconstructed  by  the  learned  men  of  Arabia, 
Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Egypt,  and  carried  into  Spain. 
They  had  restored  the  great  Alexandrian  library  so 
far  as  possible,  and  transferred  it  to  Cordova,  the 
Spanish  capital. 

The  glimmering  of  light,  radiating  in  the  tenth 
century  from  the  Arabian  schools  in  Spain  where 
the  best  families  in  Europe  were  educating  their  sons, 
hardly  seemed  like  the  dawn  of  a  new  civilization  for 
all  Europe,  but  such  it  is  proving  to  be,  not  only  for 
Europe  but  for  America,  and  eventually  the  whole 
world  ;  for  some  parts  of  Asia  and  South  America  are 
already  under  way  in  the  new  education.  From  the 
tenth  century  to  the  fifteenth,  the  schools  of  Spain 
attracted  young  men  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  On 
completing  their  studies  they  carried  to  their  homes 
the  spirit  of  the  Spanish  Arabian  schools,  which  was 


28  THE    NEW    METHOD 

at  that  time  the  spirit  of  the  "  new  education".     In 
the  course  of  time  these  men  began  to  organize  for 
educational   purposes,    France,    Italy,   and  Germany 
taking  the  lead.    Academies  of  art  and  science  sprang 
up,  only  to  be  closed  by  the  ecclesiastical  power.     Men 
who  wished  to  pursue  science  must  do  it  in  solitude 
and  silence,  if  they  would  escape  the  cruelties  of  that 
ignorant  and  intolerant  age.     But  the  time  came  when 
the  light  of  science  could  no  longer  be  smothered, 
for  it  had  been  kindled  in  too  many  places,  and  the 
darkness  of  the  middle  ages  must  disappear.     From 
Spain  an  influence  had  gone  forth  over  Europe  that 
the  fires  of  the  inquisition  could   not  destroy.     The 
astronomy  of  Pythagoras  had  been  revived  in  Arabia 
and  was  silently  taking  deep  root  in  Europe.     In  the 
interest  of  commerce,  sailors  and  merchants  were  se- 
cretly consulting  astronomers  as  to  the  size  and  shape 
of  the  earth,   and  a  better  passage  to  India.     Intel- 
lectual activity  was  increasing  in  every  part  of  Europe. 
The  spirit  of  individualism  and  adventure  had  been 
awakened  by  the  three  great  voyages. 

People  were  eager  to  hear  the  news  of  the  day,  the 
wonders  of  science,  the  stories  of  the  new  world, 
of  the  mountains  of  gold  in  Peru,  and  of  silver  in 
Mexico. 

The  two  impulses,  the  intellectual  and  the  moral 
combined,  which  finally  brought  the  dark  ages  to  an 
end,  did  not  spring  up  at  once.     Both  were  germinat- 


OF    EDUCATION  29 

ing  in  the  ninth  century.  Both  were  annually  rein- 
forced and  enlivened  by  the  exodus  of  a  thousand 
young  men  from  the  Arabian  schools.  Both  impulses 
were  taking  deeper  and  deeper  root  in  the  nations  of 
Europe  six  hundred  years  before  they  culminated  in 
establishing  the  principles  of  modern  European  life. 
Thus  the  spirit  of  improvement  which  had  its  be- 
ginning in  the  schools  of  Spain  in  the  darkest  part  of 
the  dark  ages  was  the  cause  of  the  common  school 
and  not  the  consequence  of  it,  as  many  have  supposed. 

The  common  school  had  its  beginning  in  southern 
Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  the  northerly 
parts  a  hundred  years  later.  What  learning  there  was 
at  that  time,  except  that  derived  from  the  Arabian 
schools,  was  confined  to  bishops,  monks  and  other 
ecclesiastics.  Men  who  knew  the  methods  of  true 
education  could  have  no  voice  or  influence  in  organ- 
izing the  school,  or  formulating  its  methods.  The 
schools  at  first  were  reading  schools  and  nothing 
more.  The  priest  of  the  parish  was  the  teacher 
because  nobody  else  could  read.  But  when  a  genera- 
tion of  readers  had  grown  up,  any  one  who  could 
do  the  necessary  flogging  could  teach  school. 

The  expectations  of  the  reading  schools  have  never 
been  realized.  At  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century 
there  was  disappointment  everywhere.  In  the  next 
century  arithmetic  and  writing  were  introduced,  but 
at  the  close  of  the  century  the  disappointment  was  no 


30  THE    NEW    METHOD 

less  than  it  had  been  a  hundred  years  earlier.  Before 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  many  people  be- 
came out-spoken  in  their  criticisms  of  the  schools. 
They  claimed  that  the  method  must  be  radically 
wrong,  for  in  two  centuries  the  public  school  had 
done  but  little  toward  raising  the  people  out  of  their 
ignorance  and  degradation. 

The  first  of  the  noted  writers  on  this  subject  was 
Rousseau  in  France.  In  1749  he  wrote  that  the 
children  learn  nothing  but  words  and  no  real  knowl- 
edge, that  books  rob  a  boy  of  his  mother  wit  and  he 
becomes  a  machine  and  a  dunce.  He  said  that  what 
real  knowledge  a  child  receives  comes  through  the 
senses,  which  are  the  basis  of  the  intellectual,  and  that 
books  are  useless  until  the  child  is  ten  years  old. 

The  next  distinguished  advocate  of  better  methods 
in  education  was  Henry  Pestalozzi  of  Switzerland. 
He  opened  his  first  school  at  Neuhof  in  1775.  Pes- 
talozzi rejected  as  worse  than  useless  the  book  learn- 
ing which  prevailed  in  all  public  schools  at  that  time. 
He  said  that  a  man  who  has  only  book  learning  is 
less  susceptible  to  truth  than  a  savage. 

For  nearly  a  hundred  years  Germany  has  been  the 
educational  centre  of  the  world.  She  is  exerting  a 
great  and  increasing  influence  in  all  the  progressive 
and  most  highly  civilized  nations,  by  illustrating  the 
true  or  at  least  the  best  known  methods  of  educating 
a  child.     It  becomes  us,  then,  to  inquire  how  Germany 


OF    EDUCATION  31 

has  gained  the  intellectual  lead  of  the  world,  and  how 
we  may  put  German  wisdom  into  our  own  schools. 

During  the  first  few  years  of  the  last  century 
Europe  was  shaken  to  its  centre  by  the  repeated  vic- 
tories of  the  French  and  allied  armies  under  the  lead 
of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Upon  the  defeat  of  the 
Germans  in  the  battle  of  Jena,  in  1806,  and  the  en- 
trance of  Napoleon  into  Berlin  a  few  days  later,  the 
despair  of  Germany  was  complete.  The  last  days  of 
that  year  found  all  Germany  without  one  ray  of  hope 
for  the  future  of  their  country.  But  in  the  early  part 
of  1807  it  began  to  be  manifest  that  national  vitality 
was  still  there  ;  and  it  soon  began  to  show  itself  in 
a  spirited  manner  in  the  management  of  such  social 
affairs  as  Napoleon  still  allowed  them  to  control.  It 
was  during  this  period  of  subjugation  and  despair 
that  a  few  of  the  ablest  and  best  patriots  were  already 
devising  the  means  of  national  reconstruction.  They 
had  lost  all  hope  of  immediately  improving  their  con- 
dition. Their  hope  of  ultimate  success  was  in  armies 
stronger  physically,  stronger  intellectually  and  mor- 
rally  :  men  who  could  utilize  all  their  strength 
through  an  educated  will.  In  allowing  Germany  to 
control  her  own  educational  interests  Napoleon 
struck  a  chord  that  has  never  ceased  to  vibrate. 

In  a  public  lecture  at  Berlin  in  1807,  the  noted 
philosopher  Fichte  used  these  words  :  "  That  we  are 
no  longer  able  to  offer  an  active  resistance  is  obvious 


32  THE    NEW    METHOD 

to  every  one.     How  then  can   we  regain  and  defend 
our  national  existence  ?     In  no  other  way  than  by 
raising  up  a  worthy  posterity.     There  remains  for  us 
no  sphere  in  which  we  can  act  as  an  independent  state, 
except  that  of  education.     And  I  have  only  this  hope 
to  live  for,  that  I  shall  convince  some  Germans  that 
it  is  education  alone  which  can  save  us  from  all  the 
evils  by  which  we  are  oppressed."     At  this  lecture 
were  high  officers  of  state,  kings,  queens,  princes,  min- 
isters of  education,  and  noted  teachers  to  represent  the 
new  education,  then  in  its  infancy  in  the  public  schools 
of  modern  Europe.    The  applause  of  the  great  audience 
became  enthusiastic  as  the  philosopher  promised  not 
only  deliverance  to  Germany  through  national  educa- 
tion, but  declared  that  it  would  result,  in  the  end,  in  the 
emancipation  and  reformation  of  the  entire  human  race. 
To  the  question  whether  there  is  any  known  method 
of  human   development  sufficient  for  such  a  result, 
the  lecturer  said   there   is;    "a  method    which  had 
been  invented   by   Henry   Pestalozzi,   which  is   now 
successfully  carried  out  under  his  direction,  at  Yver- 
don,   in   Switzerland."     As  this  method  of  eventual 
deliverance  through  education  was  clearly  set  forth 
and  fortified  by  argument,  it  took  strong  hold  of  the 
public    mind.     It    seems   that    several   other   distin- 
guished men  had  already  been  thinking  of  the  new 
education    as    the    surest     foundation     of     national 
strength,  and  the  true  palladium  of  liberty. 


OF    EDUCATION  33 

Soon  after  this  meeting  in  Berlin,  Nicholovius,  the 
Prussian  minister  of  education,  wrote  to  Pestalozzi 
as  follows  :  "At  last  my  venerable,  unforgotten 
friend,  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  some  rays  of  thy 
light  penetrate  into  the  schools  of  my  fatherland. 
What  I  have  dreamed  at  thy  side,  what  we  have  dis- 
cussed in  letters,  will  soon  become  realized  as  a  work 
of  absolute  necessity.  With  us  the  march  of  events 
has  ruined  everything,  yet  courageous  men  are  already 
bent  upon  reconstruction.  Oh  help  us  to  foster  the 
work  which  thou  hast  founded.  May  thy  life  be  spared 
in  order  to  complete  thy  work  as  far  as  possible." 

Carl  Ritter,  soon  after  a  visit  to  Pestalozzi's  school, 
wrote  to  him  thus  :  "I  cannot  tear  myself  away  from 
the  mountain  scenery  of  Helvetia  without  devoting 
to  thee,  O  Father  Pestalozzi  a  silent  tear.  May  it 
tell  how  deeply  I  feel  what  thou  art  to  humanity. 
How  could  I  ever  forget  the  time  I  have  spent  amidst 
thy  new  creations.  Even  had  I  gained  nothing  by  it 
but  a  renewed  faith  in  humanity,  I  would  consider 
myself  amply  repaid. 

"  My  ardent  desire  to  see  the  champion  and  martyr 
for  truth  and  love,  and  to  be  refreshed  at  the  living 
source  of  his  life  and  example,  has  been  granted ;  and 
I  return  with  enlarged  feeling  into  this  cold  vortex 
of  life.  I  thank  thee  venerable  father,  for  thy  affec- 
tion. It  has  taught  me  a  warmer  and  purer  love  :  It 
has  strengthened  my  arm  for  the  struggle  with  the 


34  THE    NEW    METHOD 

world,  which  every  one,  to  whom  life  is  more  than 
death  must  undergo.  But  blind  humanity  passes  by 
the  law  of  nature,  until  a  Newton  shows  its  applica- 
tion in  mathematical  science,  a  Lavoisier  through  the 
maze  of  experimental  philosophy,  and  a  Pestalozzi 
in  the  wider  field  of  human  development." 

In  1808  the  Prussian  government  sent  twelve  well 
educated  and  carefully  selected  young  men  to  Yver- 
don,  to  learn  the  details  of  Pestalozzi's  principles  and 
methods.  Nicholovius  said  to  them  :  "  The  object  of 
sending  you  to  Pestalozzi  is  not  merely  that  you  may 
study  the  external  or  formal  part  of  his  system,  but 
that  you  may  warm  yourselves  at  the  sacred  fire 
which  is  glowing  in  the  bosom  of  that  man,  who  is 
full  of  power  and  love  ;  that  you  may  walk  with  a 
similar  spirit  in  the  path  of  truth,  and  in  the  observa- 
tion of  nature  ;  that  you  may  become  simple  as  children 
in  order  to  obtain  the  key  with  which  to  open  the 
sacred  temple  of  childhood  ;  that  you  may  learn  to 
simplify  the  elementary  part  of  each  science  by  leading 
the  child  directly  into  the  realities  of  the  world  through 
the  use  of  his  own  faculties,  and  thus  strengthen  his 
mind,  by  vigorous  nourishment,  for  the  application 
and  popular  use  of  knowledge.'  These  students 
made  rapid  progress  at  Yverdon,  and  on  their  return 
they  established  normal  schools  which  in  a  few  years 
furnished  a  large  number  of  earnest  and  competent 
teachers.     By  these  and  other  means  the  schools  of 


OF    EDUCATION  35 

Germany  were  organized  on  a  new  basis,  and  a  hope- 
ful and  vigorous  life  was  felt  throughout  the  land. 

In  1 8 13  the  allied  armies  defeated  Napoleon  in  the 
battle  of  Leipsic,  and  Germany  was  again  free. 
Almost  as  soon  as  a  generation  had  grown  up  in  the 
new  education,  Germany  had  occasion  for  using  all 
the  power  her  armies  had  gained  through  its  means, 
to  show  the  world  whether  there  was  any  reality 
in  her  dreams  of  power  to  preserve  her  liberties 
through  an  improved  method  of  education. 

In  1870  France  declared  war  against  Germany. 
Germany  did  not  hesitate  for  one  hour.  Full  of  life 
and  energy,  Germany  once  more  grappled  with  the 
great  power  that  had  invaded  her  homes  sixty  years 
before.  The  best-educated  army  the  world  has  ever 
seen  immediately  moved  toward  the  proud  capital  of 
France.  Two  hundred  miles  from  Paris  the  two 
great  armies  met.  For  the  French  it  was  utter  defeat 
in  every  battle.  In  a  short  campaign  of  seven  weeks, 
the  Germans  had  taken  260,000  prisoners  of  war,  and 
turned  the  red  battlefields  into  great  cemeteries  for 
the  dead  soldiers  of  France.  Paris  itself  was  soon 
invested,  and  France,  which  had  been  the  terror  of 
all  Europe  for  a  century,  was  completely  broken. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  a  method  of  education 
originating  among  German-speaking  people,  would 
spread  much  more  rapidly  where  their  language  is 
used  than  in  countries  speaking  different  languages. 


36  THE    NEW    METHOD 

Not  until  1830  did  the  government  of  France  make 
any  attempt  to  introduce  the  new  education,  and  her 
public  schools  had  fallen  far  behind  those  of  Ger- 
many. Then  a  vigorous  movement  was  made  in 
France  to  raise  public  instruction  to  a  better  standard 
by  the  appointment  of  Victor  Cousin  as  minister  of 
education.  He  began  his  work  by  first  making  himself 
acquainted  with  the  best  school  systems  of  Europe. 

In  his  report  he  was  emphatic  in  the  statement  that 
the  schools  of  Germany  are  far  superior  to  all  others 
in  Europe.  He  recommended  the  immediate  recon- 
struction of  the  schools  of  France  on  the  German 
models.  He  seemed  almost  to  feel  obliged  to  apologize 
for  studying  and  recommending  the  school  system 
of  a  rival  nation.  He  told  France  that  she  ought 
not  to  lose  the  experience  of  Germany  —  that 
national  rivalries  and  antipathies  would  here  be 
entirely  out  of  place.  He  farther  said:  "I  am  as 
great  an  enemy  as  any  one  to  artificial  imitations,  but 
let  us  not  reject  a  thing  because  it  has  been  thought 
good  by  others.  We  constantly  imitate  England  in 
many  ways,  and  to  our  great  advantage.  And  why 
should  we  blush  to  borrow  something  from  kind, 
honest,  pious,  learned  Germany,  in  what  regards 
inward  life,   and  the  nurture  of  the  soul.' 

But  the  system  advocated  by  Cousin  was  only  par- 
tially carried  out,  and  primary  education  in  France 
has  never  attained  to  the  standard  of  Germany. 


PART    II 

ILLUSTRATIVE    EXAMPLES 


GRADE    I. 

The  First  Day  in  School,  and  What  Was 
Done  by  Children  Six  Years  Old. 

Song. 

Morning's  golden  light  is  breaking; 

Tints  of  beauty  paint  the  skies; 
Happy  song-birds  now  are  waking, 

Let  their  songs  to  heaven  arise. 

This  is  a  fine  morning  to  begin  your  first  day  in 
school.  After  thinking  a  moment  you  may  tell  a  few 
of  the  interesting  things  you  saw  on  your  way  from 
home. 

Bessie  —  I  saw  a  bird's-nest  up  very  high  in  a  tree. 

Helen  -  - 1  saw  a  little  boy  playing  in  the  sand. 

Ida  —  I  saw  a  white  rock  on  the  wall. 

John  —  I  saw  some  red  clover  and  some  white 
clover. 

Did  any  of  you  find  out  what  makes  it  so  light  that 
we  can  see  all  these  things  so  nicely  ?  May  raise 
your  hand  if  you  can  tell  what  makes  it  so  light  every 
day  and  so  dark  every  night. 

Ida —  The  sun  rises  every  morning  and  makes  it 
light. 

Does  the  sun  stay  in  one  place  after  it  rises  ? 

May — As  soon  as  the  sun  rises  it  goes  up  higher 


4  THE    NEW    METHOD 

and  moves  along  all  day  in  the  sky  and  gets  to  the 
place  where  it  sets,  and  then  it  gets  dark  in  a  little 
while. 

May  tell  all  you  know  about  the  sun. 

Nina —  The  sun  is  round. 

Olive — The  sun  is  very  bright. 

Ella  —  The  sun  rises  in  the  east. 

John —  The  sun  lights  up  the  world. 

Henry  —  The  sun  warms  the  ground  and  the  air. 

Edith  —  When  the  sun  sets  it  makes  the  clouds  red 
and  yellow. 

Jane  —  The  sun  makes  the  sky  and  the  clouds 
look  bright  and  beautiful. 

The  sentences  above,  given  orally  by  the  children, 
were  taken  for  their  first  lesson  in  reading. 

In  the  afternoon  their  reading  was  selected,  as 
given  below  :  — 

"  Seas  roll  to  waft  me,  suns  to  light  me  rise, 
My  footstool  earth,  my  canopy  the  skies." 

—  Pope. 

"  The  suu  rides  through  the  azure  sky, 
And  beams  upon  us  from  on  high." 

—  Pom  aine. 

"  From  blue  to  red,  from  red  to  gold,  from  gold  to  gray, 
So  turns  the  sky,  so  fades  the  light,  so  ends  the  day." 

— Erniy. 

"  The  rising  sun  had  newly  chased  the  night, 
And  purpled  o'er  the  sky  with  blushing  light." 

— Dry  den. 


OF    EDUCATION  5 

The  present  approved  method  of  learning  to  read 
has  resulted  from  the  proper  combination  of  all  that 
is  good  in  every  method  that  has  ever  been  used. 
No  method  has  been  entirely  wrong,  but  the  worst  of 
all  methods  is  that  which  was  used  almost  universally 
in  Europe  and  America  until  quite  recently,  and  is 
still  used  in  many  places.  It  wastes  the  time  and 
energies  of  the  child  on  the  least  important  of  all  the 
details  of  learning  to  read.  Under  that  method, 
simply  the  name  of  each  letter  was  first  learned,  and 
that  gave  no  direct  clew  to  the  sound  of  the  letters, 
or  the  pronunciation  of  words. 

The  child  must  learn  tp  pronounce  words  at  sight  by 
the  same  general  method  by  which  he  has  learned 
the  looks  and  name  of  hundreds  of  other  things  which 
he  can  name  at  sight  without  hesitation.  The  true 
order  is  to  observe  the  whole  thing  before  we  investi- 
gate the  different  parts  and  the  smaller  details  of  the 
parts. 

In  learning  to  read  the  sound  of  the  letter  is  much 
more  important  than  its  name,  but  both  should  have 
careful  attention  from  the  beginning. 

Specimens  of  Work  Done  Last  Part  of 

First  Year. 

The  first  move  toward  explaining  the  principles  of 
the  New  Education  will  be  the  presentation  of  a  few 


6  THE    NEW   METHOD 

samples  of  work  in  all  the  grades,  exactly  as  written 
by  the  children  while  the  object  described  was  before 
them  for  their  inspection.  It  is  hoped  that  these 
records  will,  to  some  extent,  show  what  modern  ap- 
proved methods  are. 

School  work  should  begin  by  learning  things  near 
at  hand,  especially  the  things  that  concern  people  of 
all  ages.  Nothing  is  nearer  to  us  than  the  air  we 
breathe,  the  light,  heat,  and  other  influences  of  the 
sun,  the  earth  we  tread  upon,  and  the  vegetable 
world  around  us.  These  are  the  sources  of  life, 
health,  and  true  culture.  They  are  the  foundation 
of  our  industries  and  our  wTealth. 

The  Landscape. 

"  A  landscape  is  all  the  land  and  everything  the 
land  contains  as  far  as  we  can  see  in  all  directions. 
When  we  are  in  a  valley  we  can  see  but  a  little  way, 
and  if  we  wish  to  see  a  large  landscape  we  must  go 
to  the  top  of  a  high  hill  or  a  mountain. 

Yesterday  we  all  went  to  the  top  of  a  high  hill  to 
see  the  landscape  that  surrounds  our  school.  On  our 
wajr  we  saw  fields  of  grass  and  corn,  pastures  full  of 
sheep  and  lambs,  lawns  and  gardens,  woodland  with 
many  kinds  of  trees,  squirrels,  birds  and  butterflies. 
When  we  were  at  the  top  of  the  hill  we  saw  the  great 
landscape  reaching  to  the  horizon  in  all  directions. 


OF    EDUCATION  7 

The  largest  things  in  the  landscape  were  the  moun- 
tains in  the  west  and  north,  and  the  great  hills  in  the 

east."  Nina. 

The  Sky. 

"  The  sky  is  the  largest  sight  that  we  can  ever  see, 

and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  sights.     It  seems 

to  be  just  as  broad  as  the  landscape,  and  it  reaches 

down  to  the  horizon  all  the  way  around.     The  sky 

looks  like  a  great  hollow  dome,  or  canopy  perfectly 

rounded  in  every  part.     It  contains  the  blue  air  that 

keeps  every  plant  and  animal  alive,  and  the  beautiful 

clouds  always  changing  their  color  and  shape.     The 

sun  and  moon  are  in  the  sky  a  part  of  the  time,  and 

the   stars  are   always   there,   but  we   can    see   them 

only  in   the   night    because  they  are  so  far  away." 

Dora. 
The  Trillium  Plant. 

We  all  had  a  beautiful  Trillium  plant  to  study  this 
morning,  and  we  are  going  to  describe  it  in  writing. 
The  Trillium  grows  about  six  inches  high,  and  it  is  a 
very  interesting  little  plant.  The  lower  part  of  the 
stem  is  pink,  and  it  shades  off  into  light  green  in  the 
upper  part,  and  dark  green  at  the  top. 

4 '  The  plant  has  only  three  leaves  and  they  grow  in 
a  whorl  near  the  top.  The  leaves  are  large  for  a 
little  plant  like  this.  They  are  more  than  three  inches 
long    and    half    as  wide.     They  have  a  great  many 


8  THE    NEW    METHOD 

veinlets  growing  out  of  the  veins,  and  they  divide  the 
leaf  into  little  parts  of  many  funny  shapes.  The 
leaves  are  ovate,  and  they  have  an  entire  margin  and 
a  sharp  point  at  the  apex. 

"  The  Trillium  has  but  one  flower,  but  it  is  large 
and  beautiful.  The  flower  has  three  sepals,  three 
petals,  and  six  stamens.  The  petals  are  mostly 
white,  but  each  one  has  several  pink  lines  running 
half  way  up  from  the  calyx.  The  Trillium  plant 
grows  in  all  the  New  England  states  and  in  Canada." 

WiivE. 

"  We  have  just  had  a  short  lesson  on  a  very  com- 
mon little  butterfly,  called  the  Colias  philodice.  It 
is  a  very  beautiful  and  interesting  insect.  Iyike  all 
other  butterflies  it  has  four  wings,  six  legs  and  two 
antennae.  The  wings  expand  about  two  inches. 
The  general  color  of  the  wings  is  yellow,  of  the 
brightest  shade.  All  the  wings  have  a  black  or  very 
dark  border  all  around  them.  On  the  forewings  the 
border  is  much  wider  than  on  the  hind  wings.  Near 
the  middle  of  each  front  wing  there  is  a  small  black 
spot,  and  a  little  place  in  the  center  of  it  is  trans- 
lucent. On  the  hind  wings  there  is  an  orange  spot, 
and  all  around  it  there  is  a  ring  of  dark  yellow. 
Along  the  border  of  all  the  wings  there  are  yellow 
spots  in  a  row  near  the  edge.     These  butterflies  live 


OF   EDUCATION  9 

only  about  thirty^  days,  but  they  seem  to  be  very 
happy  while  the  sun  shines,  and  they  go  from  flower 
to  flower  for  the  honey."  RosiE. 

"The  weather  has  been  very  changeable  ever 
since  sunrise.  Early  this  morning  the  sun  was  shin- 
ing, the  air  was  clear  and  the  sky  was  blue.  There 
were  no  clouds  except  a  few  cumulus  clouds  near  the 
zenith,  and  they  were  as  bright  and  beautiful  as  pos- 
sible as  they  changed  into  many  curious  shapes. 
Just  at  school  time  it  grew  darker,  but  cleared  up  in 
a  little  while,  and  then  grew  darker  once  more.  At 
recess  time  the  whole  eastern  horizon  was  bright 
blue,  with  a  few  lovely  stratus  clouds  from  ten  to 
twenty  degrees  high.  The  wind  blows  gently  from 
the  west  now,  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  an  hour,  I  should 
say.  We  used  some  thistle-down  in  the  garden  to 
see  which  way  and  how  fast  the  air  was  moving. 
Just  before  recess  we  had  several  nice  and  very  inter- 
esting experiments  to  show  us  the  properties  of  the 

air."  BESSIE. 

The  Buttercup. 

"The  early  buttercup  is  an  interesting  plant.     It 

grows    only  a    few   inches   high.      It   blossoms  very 

early  in  the  spring,  and  the  flower  is  bright  yellow. 

The  calyx  has  five  parts,  and  the  blossom  has  five 

petals.     The  petals  are  about  half  an  inch  long." 

John. 


IO  THE    NEW    METHOD 

"The  Clintonia  is  a  very  beautiful  plant.  It  is 
generally  found  in  damp  woods.  It  grows  nearly  a 
foot  high.  At  the  to£>  it  bears  four  or  five  large 
nodding  flowers.  The  Clintonia  grows  in  the  six 
New, England  States,  and  westerly  to  the  Mississippi 
River."  Bessie. 

"The  Sanguinaria  plant,  or  Blood  Root,  is  very 
beautiful.  It  grows  in  very  rich,  damp  soil,  and 
blossoms  quite  early.  The  sap  of  the  roots  and  of  all 
other  parts  of  the  plant  is  red  and  bitter.  The  leaf 
has  eight  lobes,  and  there  are  rounded  sinuses  be- 
tween them.  The  flower  is  white.  It  has  two  sepals, 
eight  petals,  and  about  twenty-four  stamens." 

Ida. 

"The  Uvularia  is  a  very  interesting  plant.  It 
grows  in  damp  shady  places  and  is  about  eight  inches 
high.  Near  the  top  it  divides  into  two  parts.  One 
part  has  only  leaves —  the  other  part  has  leaves  and 
one  large  flower.  The  flower  has  six  light  yellow 
petals  nearly  an  inch  long."  Susie. 

"  The  Potentilla  argentea  is  a  very  small  plant.  It 
grows  in  dry,  hard  ground  where  most  other  plants 
never  grow.  This  little  plant  has  very  pretty  yellow 
flowers  from  June  till  September.  The  flower  has 
five  sepals,  five  petals,  and  many  stamens.  Each 
leaf  has  five  leaflets.     The  under  side  of  the  leaf  is 


OF    EDUCATION  II 

much  lighter  green  than  the  upper  side.  There  are 
a  few  small  teeth  on  the  margin  of  the  leaflets  near 
the  apex."  May. 

"The  Aspidium  spinulosum  is  a  very  beautiful 
fern.  It  grows  in  the  woods.  It  will  grow  in  past- 
ures where  there  are  a  few  trees  to  shade  it  a  part  of 
the  time.  The  frond  has  a  graceful  lanceolate  form, 
and  it  is  twice  pinnate.  In  good  soil  this  fern  grows 
about  fourteen  inches  high."  Jane. 

The  Weather. 

"This  is  a  very  pleasant  day.  The  wind  is  very 
nearly  west.  The  sun  is  shining  brightly.  There 
are  a  few  stratus  clouds  near  the  western  horizon, 
and  some  cumulus  clouds  near  the  zenith.  Both 
these  kinds  of  clouds  are  fair  weather  clouds.  We 
can  see  the  beautiful  blue  sky  in  many  places 
through    the    clouds.  Eeea. 

The  Weather. 
'At  recess  this  morning  the  air  was  very  still,  and 
there  were  no  clouds  at  all.  At  noon  there  were 
stratus  clouds  just  above  the  horizon,  cumulus  clouds 
half  wray  to  the  zenith,  nimbus  clouds  down  low  in 
the  east,  and  high  above  them  over  a  large  space 
there  were  cirrus  clouds  of  many  shapes,  and  there 
was  a  cold  east  wind."  Oeive. 


12  THE    NEW    METHOD 

"  It  is  very  warm  today  and  the  sun  shines  about 
half  the  time.  The  other  half  of  the  time  the  sun  is 
behind  a  large  cumulus  cloud. 

"  Yesterday  it  was  very  foggy  all  day  and  the  sun- 
beam could  not  get  through  the  fog.  The  sun  is  so 
far  away  I  should  not  think  the  light  could  go  so  far 
even  when  the  air  is  clear."  Edith. 

"We  had  three  very  interesting  experiments  this 
morning  to  show  that  air  swells  or  expands  when  it 
is  warmed.  When  we  think  there  is  nothing  in  a 
dish  or  a  bottle  it  is  always  full  of  air.  The  ap- 
paratus used  was  a  round  flask  of  thin  and  very  clear 
glass,  a  bent  glass  tube  in  a  cork,  and  a  small  glass 
tunnel  in  a  cork.  Water  was  poured  into  the  tunnel, 
but  it  would  not  run  through  into  the  flask  until  a 
part  of  the  air  came  out."  Henry. 

"  The  sun  rises  very  early  now,  and  soon  we  shall 
have  the  longest  day  of  the  year.  Soon  after  sunrise 
this  morning  the  dew-drops  were  very  thick  on  the 
grass  and  on  all  other  plants. 

"Just  as  the  sun  went  down  last  night  some  of  the 
clouds  in  the  west  were  brighter  than  gold.  One 
cloud  had  four  or  five  shades  of  red.  The  lightest 
shade  was  pink  and  the  darkest  was  crimson." 

Nina. 


GRADE    II. 

The   IylTTORINA   SNAIIv. 

' '  It  lives  in  shallow  water  around  every  sea  north 
of  the  equator.  The  shell  is  quite  pretty.  It  is  nearly 
an  inch  long  and  half  as  wide.  The  body  whorl  is 
yellow,  and  is  covered  with  rows  of  little  ridges.  The 
apex  is  very  sharp,  and  is  of  a  dark  yellow  color.  The 
aperture  is  round  and  one  side  of  it  is  light  green. 
The  inside  of  the  shell  is  white,  and  I  can  see  some 
parallel,  raised  lines  there.  The  snail  is  a  very  slow 
one,  for  it  can  go  only  four  inches  a  minute.  It  is  an 
herbivorous  snail,  for  it  eats  nothing  but  sea- weeds." 

Ima. 

The  Cypraea  Onyx. 

"The  general  color  of  this  shell  is  brown.  The  body 
whorl  is  light  brown,  with  a  spot  of  white  on  the  back 
near  the  middle.  On  the  body  whorl  near  the  aper- 
ture there  is  a  stripe  of  dark  red.  One  part  of  the 
stripe  is  light  brown.  The  aperture  is  quite  wide. 
The  outer  lip  is  dark  brown,  and  there  are  seventeen 
teeth  on  it.  The  teeth  are  red  and  the  spaces  be- 
tween them  are  dark  brown. 

' '  This  shell  is  found  in  the  shallow  water  of  the 


14  THE    NEW   METHOD 

Japan  Sea,   Yellow  Sea,   Blue  Sea  and  China  Sea  ; 
also  on  the  shores  of  all  the  Japan  Islands." 

Kdie. 

"The  Strombus  gigas  is  a  very  big  shell.  My 
shell  weighs  three  pounds  and  a  quarter,  and  it  is 
nine  inches  long  and  seven  inches  broad.  It  has  ten 
whorls  and  the  body  whorl  is  very  large.  Each 
whorl  has  seven  or  eight  spikes,  or  spines.  Each 
spine  on  the  body  whorl  is  an  inch  high,  and  on  the 
next  whorl  half  as  much  as  that,  and  the  next  the 
half  of  that,  and  it  goes  on  that  way  till  they  get  very 
small.  There  are  seventy-nine  or  eighty  spines  on 
my  shell.  The  aperture  is  pink,  and  near  the  edge 
of  the  outer  lip  it  is  salmon  color,  and  it  is  scalloped 
all  the  way.  Where  the  spines  show  inside  it  is  hol- 
lowed out,  and  the  hollows  are  very  dark  pink.  This 
is  the  prettiest  shell  that  I  have  ever  studied  —  it  is 
so  large  and  handsome.  These  shells  were  found  on 
the  shores  of  Hayti.  They  are  also  found  on  the 
shores  of  Cuba,  Jamaica,  Porto  Rico,  all  the  Bahama 
and  Caribbee  islands  and  all  other  islands  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea."  Ida. 

"When  I  got  up  this  morning  it  was  very  cold 
indeed,  and  the  window  was  covered  with  frost. 
Although  the  sun  shines  very  brightly,  it  does  not 
make  the  air  warm.     There  is  a  very  strong  west 


OF    EDUCATION  1 5 

wind,  but  it  does  not  very  often  blow  any  clouds 
across  the  sun.  Last  night  the  nimbus  clouds  began 
to  gather  in  the  south  and  east  and  it  soon  began  to 
snow  very  fast.  The  flakes  were  large  and  very  per- 
fect in  shape.  They  were  all  the  same  beautiful 
shape,  and  had  six  sides  more  symmetrical  than  any 
one  could  possibly  draw  them.  The  snow  in  the 
public  garden  is  a  foot  deep,  and  the  wind  drives  it 
about  every  way  ;  and  the  drifts  are  the  highest  I 
ever  saw. 

"In  our  science  lesson  after  recess  we  had  an 
experiment  on  a  mineral  called  Iceland  Spar.  It  was 
put  in  water  and  the  water  had  no  effect  upon  it,  but 
when  muriatic  acid,  which  looks  just  like  water,  was 
poured  in,  it  instantly  drew  away  the  atoms  of  the 
rock,  one  from  another.  I  enjoy  these  lessons  and 
experiments  very  much  indeed."  Mina. 

"  The  Tapes  literata  belongs  to  the  family  of  Ven- 
eridae.  It  is  two  inches  long  and  one  inch  broad. 
Its  color  is  light  brown  with  dark  brown  spots.  The 
lines  of  growth  are  slightly  raised,  and  parallel  to  the 
edge  of  the  shell.  The  hinge  is  very  small  and  is  not 
in  the  middle.  This  shell  is  found  on  the  shores  of 
India,  Andaman  and  Nicobar  Islands,  Ceylon,  Mal- 
dive  and  Laccadive  Islands.  The  market  place  is  at 
Colombo,  the  capital  of  Ceylon."  Ann. 


1 6  THE    NEW    METHOD 

' '  Our  lesson  in  shells  today  was  upon  the  Natica 
mamilla,  a  shell  from  the  family  of  Naticadae,  a  fam- 
ily which  none  of  us  ever  has  studied  before.  This 
shell  is  a  remarkably  pretty  one,  for  it  is  pure  white. 
The  body  whorl  is  very  large  in  comparison  with  the 
spire.  The  shell  is  less  than  an  inch  long,  and  it  is 
shaped  like  a  semi-circle.  It  is  quite  thin  at  the 
edge,  but  it  becomes  quite  thick  at  the  middle  of  the 
body  whorl.  This  shell  may  be  found  on  the  shores 
of  all  the  Islands  north  of  South  America,  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea." 

The  Cypreae  Reticulata. 

"This  is  a  very  pretty  shell.  It  is  found  on 
the  coast  of  the  Celebes  Island,  and  all  other  East 
India  islands.  The  shell  is  about  an  inch  and  a 
quarter  in  diameter  and  nearly  four  inches  in  circum- 
ference. On  the  back  of  the  shell  there  is  a  very 
light  green  stripe  running  the  whole  length.  In  the 
aperture  there  are  short,  brown  ridges.  The  shell  is 
mostly  covered  with  white  spots  and  dark  brown 
stripes."   '  James. 

"The  Trochus  niloticus  belongs  to  the  family  of 
Turbinidae.  The  spire  is  a  perfect  cone  about  three 
inches  long  and  two  and  a  half  inches  broad  at  the 
base.     It    has   five  whorls.     It    is    a  very    beautiful 


OF    EDUCATION  1 7 

shell,  for  the  outside  is  covered  with  a  pearly  enamel, 
and  when  it  is  held  in  the  light  it  is  iridescent  in 
many  places. 

11  This  shell  is  found  on  the  shores  of  the  China 
Sea,  the  Yellow  Sea,  and  around  the  Philippine 
Islands  and  the  Formosa  Islands."  Lucy. 

Shells  of  Torrid  Zone. 
"The  Cassis  testiculus  resembles  in  many  respects 
the  Cassis  vibex.  It  is  somewhat  smaller,  being  only 
about  two  inches  long,  and  about  an  inch  and  a  quar- 
ter in  thickness.  It  is  of  a  pink-white  color,  deeper 
in  some  places  than  others.  There  are  grooved  lines 
running  around  the  shell  parallel  to  the  suture,  and 
rows  of  ribs  crossing  them  at  right  angles.  The 
outer  lip  turns  back  like  that  of  the  Cassis  vibex,  and 
has  brown  stripes  crossing  it  at  right  angles  to  the 
edge.  The  aperture  is  longer  and  narrower  than 
that  of  the  Cassis  vibex,  and  there  are  larger  teeth 
on  the  inside  of  the  outer  lip.  The  inside  of  the 
shell  is  white.  The  inner  lip  is  white,  and  has  teeth, 
which  are  smaller  than  those  on  the  outer  lip.  At 
the  base  of  the  aperture  there  is  a  deep  canal.  The 
spire  is  of  a  lighter  color  than  the  body  whorl.  The 
apex  is  sharp,  and  is  white.  The  suture  is  not  deep. 
This  shell  is  found  on  the  shores  of  Ceylon,  the  Lac- 
adive  and  Maldive  Islands,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  and 
New  Guinea."  Bessie. 


1 8  the  new  method 

The  Weather. 

"  This  is  a  warm  sunny  day.  This  morning  there 
were  large  nimbus  clouds  all  along  the  southwestern 
horizon,  and  I  felt  sure  it  would  rain  ;  but  after  a  few 
hours  the  whole  sky  was  quite  clear,  and  the  color  of 
the  sky  was  a  very  pretty  shade  of  blue. 

"Yesterday  morning  I  could  see  no  clouds  but 
some  long  stratus  clouds  in  the  west,  and  a  few 
cumulus  clouds  up  very  high.  As  both  of  these  are 
fair  weather  clouds,  I  was  sure  it  would  be  fair  all 
day  ;  but  a  little  before  the  middle  of  the  afternoon 
it  rained  hard,  and  there  was  a  strong  wind. 

"One  of  our  problems  today  was  to  find  the 
weight  of  calcium,  carbon,  and  oxygen  in  a  pound  of 
calcite."  John. 

The  Weather. 

"  It  is  not  a  very  fine  day,  and  the  sky  looks  as  if 
we  should  have  rain.  This  morning  it  was  snowing 
when  I  came  to  school.  The  flakes  were  small  and 
were  driven  about  and  broken  by  the  wind.  The 
nimbus  clouds  were  heavy  and  dark,  but  I  could  not 
see  them  very  well  because  the  sky  was  dark,  too. 

"  I  saw  a  few  snow  crystals  that  were  not  broken. 
They  had  six  sides  and  six  points.  Every  part  was 
made  very  beautiful  by  other  little  crystals  all  over 
the  larger  parts.     Water  is  a  mineral.     Like  all  other 


OF    EDUCATION  19 

minerals  it  has  its  own  forms.  The  dew  and  rain 
drops  are  globes,  because  all  the  atoms  are  drawn 
toward  the  centre.   .   .   . 

11  This  is  a  pleasant  day,  though  the  wind  is  from 
the  north  and  it  is  quite  cold.  There  are  a  few  stratus 
clouds  in  the  west,  and  several  large  cumulus  clouds 
high  up  in  the  sky.  The  blue  sky  is  almost  hidden 
except  along  the  horizon  between  the  long  stratus 
clouds.  The  ground  is  covered  with  snow  and  ice. 
The  temperature  this  morning  was  eight  above  zero. 

"  We  had  very  interesting  experiments  this  morn- 
ing to  show  how  much  the  air  expands  when  it  is 
warmed.  A  flask  that  holds  one  cubic  inch  was 
warmed,  and  we  saw  the  bubbles  of  air  as  it  was 
forced  through  a  long  glass  tube  into  another  flask." 

John. 

"  This  morning  it  was  very  cloudy  and  misty  and 
dull,  and  I  thought  it  would  rain,  but  when  I  came 
to  school  it  was  so  cold  that  I  thought  it  would  snow, 
and  a  little  before  recess  it  began  to  snow  lightly  but 
now  it  is  snowing  hard  and  fast. 

' '  After  recess  we  had  a  very  nice  experiment  which 
surprised  us  all.  A  very  little  of  a  bright  red  powder 
was  put  into  a  small  test  tube,  and  the  tube  was 
heated  two  or  three  minutes.  The  powder  had  been 
separated  into  oxygen,   which  filled   the   tube,  and 


20  THE    NEW   METHOD 

mercury  which  we  could  see  inside  of  the  tube  in 
little  globes  at  the  top  of  the  tube."  Susie. 

11  The  wind  is  blowing  quite  hard  today,  and  it  is 
very  cold.  The  sky  is  all  covered  with  thick,  dark 
and  gray  nimbus  clouds,  and  although  it  was  very 
pleasant  this  morning  and  the  sun  was  shining  very 
brightly,  now  it  is  dark  and  looks  as  if  it  would  rain 
very  soon. 

"We  had  experiments  after  recess  to  show  that 
shells  are  composed  of  oxygen,  calcium  and  carbon, 
the  same  as  all  marble  and  limestone.  Forty-eight 
per  cent,  of  a  shell  is  oxygen,  40  per  cent,  is  calcium, 
and  12  per  cent,  is  carbon. 

u  In  our  arithmetic  lesson  we  found  the  weight  of 

each  element  in  several  shells  which  were  weighed 

before  us  for  our  problems  in  arithmetic." 

Cora. 

' '  This  is  a  warm  and  sunny  day.  The  sky  is  blue, 
and  half  covered  with  large  white  cumulus  clouds. 
We  have  had  a  lesson  upon  a  very  beautiful  mineral 
called  calcite.  It  looks  like  ice,  but  not  so  clear,  but 
it  is  translucent.  The  sides  of  a  crystal  are  either 
square  or  oblong.  The  sides  have  two  obtuse  angles, 
and  two  acute  angles.  A  crystal  of  calcite  is  a  rhom- 
bohedron,  for  a  cube  has  all  right  angles. 

"Calcium  is  a  rare  metal.     It  is  yellow,  and  it 


OF   EDUCATION  21 

costs  ten  times  as  much  as  gold.  Carbon  is  a  black 
element  generally,  but  a  diamond  is  crystalized  car- 
bon, and  it  is  the  hardest  of  all  minerals."    David. 

"At  recess  the  wind  was  easterly  and  the  sky 
was  mostly  covered"  with  dark  nimbus  clouds.  The 
wind  blows  at  the  rate  of  about  seven  miles  an  hour. 
I  think  it  will  snow  before  night. 

"  This  morning  we  had  several  experiments  on  the 
most  abundant  of  all  the  elements.  Its  name  is  oxy- 
gen. A  coarse  white  powder  like  salt  was  put  into 
a  flask  and  heated  in  the  flame  of  alcohol.  The 
oxygen  was  separated  from  the  powder  and  forced 
through  a  tube  into  some  glass  jars.  Then  a  piece 
of  iron  wire  was  put  into  the  jar  and  it  burned,  mak- 
ing a  very  bright  flame,  and  sparks  went  out  every 
way."  JoiK. 

"It  is  very  pleasant  today,  and  is  much  warmer 
than  it  has  been  for  some  time  except  yesterday, 
when  the  ice  was  melting  and  dropping  from  the 
houses.  Today,  though  the  sun  is  shining,  the  ice 
is  hard  and  smooth.  Yesterday  the  sky  was  covered 
with  very  interesting  cumulus  and  stratus  clouds. 
They  all  had  a  reddish  tinge,  but  were  ornamented 
with  many  other  colors  and  shades,  and  a  great 
variety  of  shapes  which  were  changing  all  the  time. 


22  THE    NEW    METHOD 

We  are  never  tired  of  studying  the  sky,  because  it  is 
always  beautiful  and  always  changing.  The  sky 
now  is  of  a  very  pretty  blue  with  soft  white  clouds  in 
some  parts  of  it.  They  do  not  seem  very  far  up  in 
the  sky."  Sarah. 

The  Black  Cherry  Tree. 

"There  are  forty  kinds  of  cherry  trees  in  the 
world,  and  ten  of  them  grow  in  the  United  States. 
The  wild  black  cherry  is  one  of  our  best  timber  trees. 
The  wood  is  light  and  pretty.  It  has  a  great  deal  of 
silver  grain,  and  the  rays  are  long,  fine,  and  close  to- 
gether. The  color  of  the  sap-wood  is  white.  The 
heart-wood  is  light  red,  with  darker  stripes  running 
through  it.  The  wood  is  used  for  bureaus,  tables, 
school  desks,  window  sashes,  posts  for  stair  rails,  and 
many  other  things.  The  bark  is  gray  outside,  but 
the  inner  bark  is  light  yellow  next  to  the  wood,  and 
darker  near  the  outer  bark.  The  leaf  is  ovate  and 
comes  to  a  point  at  the  apex.  It  is  finely  net-veined, 
and  the  margin  is  very  finely  serrate. 

' '  This  tree  grows  in  all  parts  of  North  America  be- 
tween the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  Slave  Lake,  Hudson 
Bay  and  Hudson  Strait.  But  it  grows  best  half  way 
between  Hudson  Bay  and  Gulf  of  Mexico.  There, 
all  through  the  basins  of  the  Missouri,  Mississippi, 
and  Ohio  rivers,  it  grows  a  hundred  feet  high  and 
five  feet  in  diameter."  George. 


OF   EDUCATION  23 

11  For  study  in  science  today  we  have  Pyrite,  which 
means  fire-stone.  One  of  our  specimens  is  massive, 
and  the  other  is  in  small  crystals.  Each  crystal  is  a 
perfect  cube.  A  cube  has  six  equal  sides,  eight  cor- 
ners and  twelve  edges.  Pyrite  is  harder  and  heavier 
than  any  other  mineral  that  we  have  studied.  When 
broken  it  has  a  rough  surface  and  a  bright  yellow 
color.  When  I  turn  it  in  the  light  it  glitters  like 
gold,  but  there  is  no  gold  in  it  at  all,  for  it  is  47  per 
cent,  iron,  and  53  per  cent,  sulphur.  One  of  our 
problems  to-day  was  to  find  the  amount  of  iron  and 
sulphur  in  a  pound  of  pyrite.  We  all  found  it  to  be 
3290  grains  of  iron  and  3710  grains  of  sulphur.  For 
the  proof  we  add  these,  and  it  makes  a  pound  or  7000 
grains. 

"  Our  pyrite  came  from  Ceylon.  It  is  also  found 
on  the  islands  of  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Cyprus,  Corsica, 
Candia,  Ceram,  Gilolo,  Borneo,  Java,  Sumatra  and 
New  Guinea."  Anna. 

Plants. 

''The  Iris  versicolor,  or  common  blue  flag,  is  a 
very  beautiful  plant. 

"  It  grows  from  two  feet  to  three  feet  high,  but  it  is 
never  found  growing  on  dry  land.  It  grows  best  in 
very  damp  ground  where  the  soil  is  rich  and  dark 
colored. 


24  THE    NEW    METHOD 

» 

"  It  is  an  endogen  plant ;  that  means  that  it  keeps 
growing  up  out  of  the  middle  like  corn  and  wheat 
and  all  kinds  of  grass. 

11  The  stalk  is  always  crooked,  and  it  is  not  quite 
round,  but  it  is  oval  shape.  Some  of  the  leaves  are 
nearly  a  foot  long,  and  they  are  parallel  veined. 

"  The  flower  is  very  large,  and  is  purple  in  color. 
The  flower  has  three  sepals,  three  petals,  three 
stamens,  and  three  pistils."  Edith. 

Buttercups. 

' '  The  Ranunculus  bulbosus  is  a  very  beautiful  little 
plant.  It  grows  about  ten  inches  high,  and  is  gen- 
erally found  on  dry,  rocky  hills. 

"  The  root  looks  like  a  turnip,  and  there  are  fine 
fibres  growing  out  of  it. 

"  There  are  many  fine  white  hairs  growing  on  the 
stalk.  The  flower  is  bright  yellow.  It  has  five 
sepals,  five  petals  and  nearly  forty  stamens.  There 
are  a  great  many  pistils  and  they  are  green.  The 
stamens  are  yellow.  The  petals  are  half  an  inch  long, 
and  there  are  parallel  lines  running  lengthwise  on 
both  sides.  This  plant  is  one  kind  of  buttercup,  or 
crowfoot.  Nina. 

The  Hills  and  Valleys 
11  Today  the  air  is  soft  and  warm,  and  there  are  no 
clouds  in  the  sky.     Yesterday  we  went  into  the  woods 


OF    EDUCATION  25 

on  a  high  hill.  The  hill  is  covered  with  large  trees 
of  many  kinds.  We  found  sugar  maple,  beech,  oak, 
poplar,  white  ash,  and  many  other  trees  and  shrubs. 
I  think  the  white  ash  trees  are  the  prettiest  of  all, 
they  are  so  tall  and  straight.  The  leaves  have  come 
out  on  the  sugar  maple  trees,  and  the  buds  are  open- 
ing on  some  other  trees. 

"  The  wild  red  cherry  tree  grows  only  about  twenty 
feet  high  and  its  trunk  is  from  three  to  six  inches  in 
diameter.  It  is  very  common  in  all  the  river  basins 
in  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont.  It  blos- 
soms in  May  and  is  then  a  very  showy  tree.  In  the 
last  part  of  summer  it  is  made  beautiful  again  by  its 
bright  red  fruit.  The  leaves  of  the  red  cherry  are 
about  three  inches  long  and  about  half  as  wide. 
They  have  a  serrate  margin  and  a  sharp  apex,  and 
both  sides  are  bright  green."  Eura. 

The  Aspidium  Novaboracense. 
"The  Aspidium  Novaboracense,  or  New  York 
shield  fern,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  found  chiefly 
in  New  York  state,  but  it  is  found  as  far  south  as  the 
James  River,  west  to  Ohio  and  Lake  Huron,  and 
north  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  It  is  found  grow- 
ing in  both  sun  and  shade,  though  it  prefers  a  damp, 
shady  spot.     It  grows  generally  about  one  foot  and  a 


26  THE    NEW    METHOD 

half  high  and  nearly  three  inches  wide  in  the  broad- 
est part  —  the  middle. 

"  The  stipe  is  about  four  inches  long  and  is  grooved 
on  its  upper  side. 

11  The  pinnae  are  sometimes  nearly  two  inches  long 
and  half  an  inch  wide.  There  are  twenty-two  pairs 
of  pinnae  on  the  rachis  —  some  are  opposite,  but  most 
are  alternate.  The  pinnae  are  divided  into  pinnulae 
or  lobes ;  there  are  about  forty-four  pinnulae  on  the 
second  rachis  and  they  are  all  opposite.'  Isa. 


GRADE   III. 

The  Hemlock  Tree. 

"The  Hemlock  is  one  of  the  best  of  our  forest 
trees.  It  is  a  graceful  and  very  useful  tree.  It 
makes  the  best  timber  for  the  frame  of  a  barn  or  a 
house.  The  bark  is  used  for  tanning  leather.  The 
wood  is  good  to  burn  in  a  tight  stove,  and  to  heat  an 
oven. 

' '  This  tree  grows  best  at  about  forty-five  degrees 
north  latitude,  where  it  is  found  ninety  feet  high  and 
three  feet  in  diameter.  It  grows  as  far  north  as  sixty 
degrees,  but  it  does  not  grow  nearly  so  large  there. 

"  The  wood  is  white,  and  between  the  yearly  rings 
it  is  yellow.  It  comes  apart  easily  between  the  rings 
because  there  are  no  strong  rays  to  hold  it  together. 
In  the  best  places  it  grows  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick 
all  round  the  tree  in  one  year.  Where  the  tree  does 
not  have  a  good  chance  it  grows  so  slow  that  we  can 
scarcely  count  the  rings,  because  they  are  so  thin. 

"  The  bark  on  old  trees  is  an  inch  thick,  and  there 
is  a  new  layer  every  year  next  to  the  wood.  The 
outer  bark  is  gray,  or  dark  brown.  The  inner  layer 
is  white  with  a  yellow  tint.  Between  these  two  lay- 
ers there  is  a  crimson  layer  and  a  light  brown  layer. 


28  THE    NEW    METHOD 

All  through  the  bark  each  color  shades  off  into  the 
next  color. 

"  The  hemlock  tree  has  the  smallest  leaf  I  ever  saw 
on  any  tree.  It  is  only  a  third  of  an  inch  long,  and 
the  sixteenth  of  an  inch  wide.  So  it  takes  48  leaves 
to  cover  a  square  inch.  They  grow  alternately  all 
around  the  stem.  The  shape  is  linear  and  it  has  a 
round  base  and  apex.  The  leaf  is  flat  and  straight. 
The  upper  side  is  dark  green  and  glossy.  The  under 
side  has  several  white  lines  with  parallel  green  stripes 
between  them.  Although  the  tree  is  an  evergreen, 
the  leaves  stay  on  only  about  three  years,  and  new 
leaves  come  on  every  year  as  the  twigs  grow  out 
longer. 

11  The  seeds  are  brown  on  one  side  and  gray  on  the 
other.  The  length  is  the  sixteenth  of  an  inch,  and 
half  as  wide.  Each  seed  has  a  yellow  wing  about 
the  shape  of  that  of  a  house  fly,  and  the  same  size. 
The  cone  is  an  inch  long  and  half  as  wide.  There 
are  about  thirty  scales  on  one  cone,  and  two  seeds  to 
a  scale.",  John. 

The  Sun. 

"  About  two  and  a  half  years  ago,  the  first  day  we 
ever  went  to  school,  we  learned  some  very  interesting 
things  about  the  sun.  The  sun  has  lighted  up  the 
sky  and  landscape  beautifully  every  day  since,  and  it 


OF    EDUCATION*  29 

is  almost  a  thousand  days,  for  in  two  years  there  are 
730  days,  and  in  half  a  year,  over  a  hundred  and 
eighty. 

"  The  girls  and  boys  in  our  class  are  now  learning 
more  about  the  sun  by  setting  stakes  in  the  ground 
and  sighting  over  them,  to  see  how  much  it  changes 
its  place  to  rise  and  set  each  day.  We  have  found 
that  soon  after  we  have  the  shortest  days  the  sun 
rises  earlier  and  farther  north  every  day,  and  sets 
later  and  farther  north  every  day.  None  of  us  under- 
stands just  how  this  is  brought  about.  It  cannot  be 
the  daily  motion  of  the  earth  on  its  axis,  so  it  must 
be  its  yearly  motion  round  the  sun  that  causes  it  in 
some  way."  Ida. 

The  Sponge. 

"  We  are  now  studying  the  lowest  branches  of  the 
animal  kingdom  —  the  Radiates  and  Protozoans. 
Every  one  is  familiar  with  the  looks  of  a  sponge,  and 
most  people  who  go  to  the  beach  have  seen  the  Sea- 
Urchin  and  Sea- Anemone. 

"  The  sponge,  as  we  see  it  every  day,  is  the  skele- 
ton of  an  animal.  The  flesh  of  the  animal  looks  like 
jelly  :  When  the  sponge  is  alive,  the  jelly  covers 
every  part  of  the  skeleton  just  as  the  bones  are  cov- 
ered in  other  animals.  The  sponge  is  the  largest  of 
all  the  Protozoa,  and  there  are  many  species  of  them, 
most  of  which  are  so  small  we  cannot  see  them. 


30  THE    NEW    METHOD 

While  the  sponge  is  alive  it  is  always  attached  to  a 
rock.  On  the  top  of  the  sponge  are  two  large  holes 
which  have  smaller  ones  branching  into  them.  The 
sponge  is  the  most  ignorant  of  all  animals.  It  cannot 
see,  hear,  taste,  smell  nor  feel,  and  it  seems  to  know 
nothing  at  all.  It  has  no  blood,  and  only  water  cir- 
culates through  the  tubes.  It  lives  on  little  animals 
that  flow  into  it  through  the  small  tubes  with  the 
water. 

"The  Sea- Anemone  belongs  to  a  class  a  little 
higher  than  the  sponge.  It  has  feelers  all  around  its 
mouth,  and  they  look  like  fine  sea-weed.  The  feel- 
ers can  contract  and  expand  when  they  like,  but  their 
movements  are  very  slow.  There  are  many  species 
of  these  animals,  and  some  of  them  come  from  eggs, 
and  others  from  buds  that  grow  out  as  they  do  on  a 
tree."  Henry. 

Ferns. 

"  The  Aspidium  thelypteris  is  a  very  pretty  fern 
and  it  grows  in  damp  places,  generally  on  the  banks 
of  brooks  or  rivers  in  the  eastern  United  States. 
They  do  not  grow  in  groups  but  one  alone  in  a  large 
patch  of  them.  It  is  usually  from  one  to  two  feet 
high  and  about  five  inches  wide. 

"  The  stipe  is  about  five  inches  long  and  is  slender. 
It  is  covered  with  fine  hairs  and  on  the  under  side  is 


OF   EDUCATION  3 1 

grooved.  The  frond  is  generally  about  twelve  inches 
long. 

"  The  pinnae  are  remarkable  for  being  nearly  the 
same  length,  until  near  the  apex.  They  are  about 
two  inches  long  and  there  are  usually  about  nineteen 
pinnae  on  each  side  of  the  rachis.  The  pinnae  are 
divided  into  lobes  which  are  cut  down  nearly  to  the 
mid-vein.  The  veins  are  very  fine  and  are  all  forked. 
The  sori  are  very  small  —  of  a  dark  brown  color,  and 
there  are  from  five  to  ten  on  each  lobe. 

11  Most  ferns  do  not  have  a  common  name  but  this 
is  called  the  lady-fern."  Nina. 

A  Gentle  Shower. 

"We  were  glad  yesterday  afternoon  to  have  a 
gentle  shower  without  lightning  and  thunder.  The 
rainfall  was  nearly  half  an  inch.  It  made  the  ground 
moist  and  nice  for  the  roots  of  trees  and  grass  and  all 
other  plants. 

11  Every  plant  has  a  great  many  roots  so  small  that 
we  can  hardly  see  them.  The  fine  roots  draw  the 
water  from  the  soil  and  it  goes  to  every  part  of  the 
plant  and  makes  it  grow."  Jane. 

Nimbus  Clouds. 
"The   sun   is   not   shining   at   all    this   morning. 
Nimbus  clouds  cover  more  than  three-quarters  of  the 
sky.     The  air  is  not  clear  and  I  think  it  will  rain  be- 


32 


THE   NBW    METHOD 


fore  many  hours.  Nimbus  clouds  are  rain  clouds 
and  they  are  down  lower  than  the  other  kinds. 
Sometimes  there  are  fair  weather  clouds  over  the 
nimbus  clouds  and  much  higher  up.  Through  an 
open  place  in  the  sky  I  saw  a  small  cumulous  cloud 
up  very  high  above  the  storm  cloud."  Mary. 

"This  is  a  bright  beautiful  morning.  There  are 
cumulous  clouds  up  about  forty  degrees  high,  and 
stratus  clouds  twenty  or  thirty  degrees  above  the 
horizon.  Both  are  fair  weather  clouds  and  it  will 
not  storm  until  we  have  some  nimbus  clouds. 

"We  had  some  interesting  experiments  at  ten 
o'clock  to  show  that  there  is  carbon  in  sugar.  Car- 
bon is  the  same  as  charcoal,  and  we  saw  it  taken  out 
of  the  sugar."  Ida. 


The  Cassis  Ruea. 

"  The  Cassis  rufa  is  a  very  handsome  shell.  It  is 
very  large  indeed.  It  has  the  aperture  on  the  face, 
like  all  the  Cypraea  shells  that  we  have  studied. 
The  aperture  is  very  large.  It  is  a  little  more  than 
three  inches  long,  and  the  teeth  are  in  the  inside  of 
the  aperture  farther  than  in  Cypraea  shells.  The 
back  of  the  shell  is  covered  with  nodules  of  a  grayish 
brown  color,  while  the  shell  is  red  and  white  or 
orange  and  white.     The  very  top  is  more  of  an  orange 


OF   EDUCATION  33 

color.  There  are  seven  whorls  to  my  shell,  and  they 
reach  to  the  apex  which  is  very  small  indeed.  The 
outer  lip  is  turned  up  and  it  has  dark  brown  lines  on 
it.  The  lines  are  very  broad  and  they  grow  darker 
towards  the  apex.  The  canal  turns  back  and  there 
is  a  deep  cavity  just  behind  it."  Lou. 

' '  The  Cypraea  arenosa  is  an  interesting  shell  though 
not  so  pretty  as  some.  It  is  nearly  two  inches  long 
and  over  an  inch  thick.  In  color,  on  the  back,  it  is 
of  a  light  reddish  yellow,  with  five  lines  of  deeper  red 
running  across  it.  These  lines  are  about  a  tenth  of 
an  inch  wide  ;  but  they  do  not  show  very  much  at  a 
distance,  for  the  color  is  not  a  sufficient  contrast  with 
the  rest  of  the  shell.  Around  the  edge  of  the  shell 
there  is  a  raised  line  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  wide, 
and  it  seems  to  be  pure  enamel.  Its  color  differs 
enough  from  the  rest  of  the  shell  to  make  a  good  con- 
trast ;  for  it  is  a  very  pretty  fawn  color,  and  it  has 
some  small  white  dots  over  it."  Ima. 

"  The  Harpa  minor  is  a  beautiful  shell.  It  is  about 
an  inch  long  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch  wide. 
This  shell  has  five  whorls  and  the  body  whorl  is 
larger  than  all  the  others. 

';  The  outside  of  the  shell  is  rough,  and  it  has  many 
colors.      There    are   different    shades    of    red,    blue, 


:     . "  z  ~ " 


.  . :; 


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n  i    —  : 


-  —  ~ ~ 


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:  rt2. 


Li 


~~~  ~:„  i  - 


Tzz    '"z::: 
7::  7:  .zLtT.i  z:z 


OF    EDUCATION  35 

is  a  very  fine  tree.  It  grows  well  in  all  parts  of  North 
America  between  forty  and  fifty  degrees  north  lati- 
tude. It  grows  well  in  Canada  and  all  around  Lake 
Superior  and  all  the  other  great  lakes.  In  the  west- 
ern part  of  Massachusetts  it  sometimes  grows  more 
than  a  hundred  feet  tall,  with  a  trunk  more  than  four 
feet  in  diameter,  and  sixty  or  seventy  feet  high  with- 
out a  branch. 

11  The  wood  is  white,  very  tough,  and  very  elastic 
and  strong.  It  is  used  for  wheels  and  all  other  parts 
of  wagons.  It  is  good  to  burn,  and  it  is  put  to  more 
other  uses  in  this  country  than  any  other  tree.  It  is 
used  for  the  handles  of  rakes,  pitchforks,  hoes,  shov- 
els, and  many  other  tools." 

Feldspar. 

"  This  morning  the  air  was  clear,  the  sky  was  deep 
blue,  and  there  was  not  a  cloud  to  be  seen,  but  before 
noon  the  sky  was  completely  covered  with  two  or 
three  kinds  of  clouds,  and  it  soon  began  to  rain. 
Yesterday  afternoon  at  recess  time  there  was  a  long 
cirrus  cloud  which  stretched  entirely  across  the  heav- 
ens from  horizon  to  horizon. 

11  Our  science  study  to-day  was  on  a  mineral  called 
feldspar.  Xext  after  quartz,  it  is  the  most  abundant 
of  all  minerals,  and  it  is  found  in  ever}*  country  in 
the  world.     Feldspar  is  made  up  of   four  elements, 


36  THE   NEW   METHOD 

which  are  oxygen,  the  most  abundant  of  all  the  sev- 
enty elements,  silicon,  the  next  most  abundant  after 
oxygen.  These  two  elements  make  up  three-quarters 
of  the  weight  of  feldspar,  and  two  remarkable  metals 
make  up  the  other  quarter. 

"  Another  way  of  stating  this,  as  we  do  when  we 
work  problems  in  arithmetic  about  this  mineral,  after 
we  see  our  specimens  weighed,  is  this  :  In  one  hun- 
dred grains  of  pure  feldspar  there  are  46  grains  of 
oxygen,  30  grains  of  silicon,  14  grains  of  potassium, 
and  10  grains  of  aluminum.  Then  in  one  pound,  or 
seventy  hundred  grains,  there  are  seventy  times  these 
numbers,  and  the  oxygen  is  3220  grains,  silicon  2100 
grains,  potassium  980  grains,  and  aluminum  700 
grains.  All  these  parts  added  make  the  whole,  or 
7000  grains. 

' '  When  feldspar  is  broken  the  break  follows  the 
cleavage  planes  which  run  through  it  in  two  direc- 
tions which  are  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  These 
planes  have  a  bright  pearly  luster.  Feldspar  is  not 
quite  as  hard  as  quartz.  Its  degree  of  hardness  is  six, 
and  quartz  is  seven,  and  the  diamond  is  ten,  which  is 
the  hardest  thing  in  the  world.  Talc  is  the  softest  of 
all  minerals.  Its  degree  is  one  in  a  scale  from  one  to 
ten.  Feldspar  is  slowly  ground  by  natural  processes, 
and  converted  into  clay,  which  is  made  into  pottery, 
and  the  finest  of  it  into  porcelain,  another  name  for 


OF    EDUCATION  37 

which  is  china.  Feldspar  helps  very  much  to  make 
the  soil  fertile,  and  by  holding  the  moisture  it  keeps 
the  soil  from  drying  up  in  a  dry  summer. 

1 '  We  have  had  at  least  a  dozen  very  brilliant  ex- 
periments with  the  four  elements  which  make  up  all 
feldspar.  Potassium  was  thrown  into  water  and  it 
instantly  set  the  hydrogen  in  the  water  on  fire,  while 
the  oxygen  set  the  potassium  on  fire,  and  both 
burned  together." 

Wheat. 

11  For  nature  study  this  morning  we  have  the  ma- 
ture wheat  plant.  My  specimen  is  forty  inches  high. 
Its  color  is  a  beautiful  shade  of  light  yellow  —  the 
real  straw  color.  The  nodes,  or  joints,  begin  just 
above  the  roots,  and  are  all  just  about  twice  the  dis- 
tance from  the  next ;  for  instance,  the  first  is  one 
inch  from  the  root,  the  second  two  inches  from  that, 
the  next  about  four  inches  from  the  second,  and  so  on 
all  the  way  up.  The  nodes  are  perfectly  solid,  while 
the  rest  of  the  stock  is  hollow,  and  at  every  node  a 
long,  narrow,  parallel-veined  leaf  grows  out.  The 
nodes  are  of  a  little  darker  color  than  the  spaces  in 
between,  which  are  called  internodes.  The  inter- 
nodes  are  largest  in  the  middle,  and  taper  all  the  way 
from  the  middle  to  the  nodes. 

"The  spike  or  head  of   the  wheat  is  about  three 


38  THE    NEW    METHOD 

inches  long,  and  is  of  the  same  color  as  the  stalk,  and 
there  are  spikelets  growing  out  alternately  on  the 
rachis  all  the  way  up.  The  rachis  is  the  stem  that 
runs  through  the  spike,  and  it  is  all  zigzagged,  first 
curving  to  one  side  and  then  to  the  other,  with  a  little 
notch  at  each  bend. 

"  The  spikelets  are  made  of  many  parts.  First  on 
the  right  and  left,  is  a  little  boat-shaped  husk,  called 
the  glumes.  The  glumes  are  about  one-third  of  an 
inch  long.  Then  come  some  more  little  husks  of 
nearly  the  same  shape,  called  paleae.  The  seed,  or 
kernel  of  wheat  grows  in  the  cavity  between  the  two 
paleae,  and  is  completely  covered  by  them.  The 
kernel  is  of  a  brown  color  and  it  has  a  groove  run- 
ning the  whole  length.  There  are  many  varieties  of 
wheat,  and  the  kernels  of  different  varieties  vary  in 
size  and  hardness,  and  the  color  of  the  flour. 

11  Wheat  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  plants. 
The  seeds  are  made  up  of  twelve  elements  so  com- 
bined into  several  compounds  as  to  make  the  best  of 
food.  Wheat  will  grow  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  world 
except  the  frigid  zones.  But  it  does  not  grow  well  in 
the  torrid  zone,  except  high  on  the  mountains  where 
the  climate  is  cool.  A  belt  of  land  a  thousand  miles 
wide,  extending  across  America,  Europe  and  Asia, 
with   its   southern   boundary  half   way  between   the 


OF   EDUCATION  39 

equator  and  north  pole,  contains  nearly  all  the  best 
land  for  wheat  in  the  world. 

"  The  best  wTheat  area  in  America  begins  at  the 
Rocky  mountains,  extends  due  east  a  thousand  miles 
to  the  great  lakes,  Michigan  and  Superior.  Another 
wheat  area  equally  good  begins  at  the  Ural  moun- 
tains and  Ural  River,  which  form  the  boundary  be- 
tween Europe  and  Asia,  extends  west  one  thousand 
miles  to  the  Carpathian  mountains  and  the  Baltic 
Sea.  It  extends  from  St.  Petersburg,  the  capital  of 
Russia,  one  thousand  miles  to  the  Caspian  and  Black 
Seas.  This  area  is  drained  by  three  large  rivers  — 
the  Volga,  Don  and  Dneiper.  This  great  field  is  all 
in  Russia,  and  the  great  Russian  wheat  and  flour 
markets  are  Warsaw,  Moscow,  and  St.  Petersburg. 

"The  English  markets  for  Russian  wheat  are 
Dover,  London,  and  Liverpool.  The  French  mar- 
kets are  Havre  and  Paris.  In  Germany,  Hamburg 
on  the  Elbe,  and  Berlin,  the  capital,  are  great  mar- 
kets for  wheat."  Ei^A. 


GRADE    IV. 

The  Acer  Pennsyevanicum. 

"  This  beautiful  little  tree  has  two  common  names, 
viz.  striped  maple,  and  moose- wood.  It  grows  in  the 
basin  of  the  Mississippi  River  all  the  way  between  the 
fortieth  and  fiftieth  degree  of  north  latitude. 

' '  On  the  Appalachian  Mountains  it  grows  south  as 
far  as  Georgia,  and  north  to  Canada. 

"The  striped  maple  generally  grows  only  ten  or 
twelve  feet  high,  but  where  the  soil  and  climate  are 
just  right  it  grows  thirty-six  feet  high  and  seven 
inches  in  diameter  at  the  base.  The  use  of  the 
moose-wood  is  for  inlaying  work  and  other  ornaments, 
and  also  for  the  food  for  moose.  They  eat  the  bark 
and  twigs  for  the  sweet  sap  in  them.  When  they 
take  too  much  of  the  bark  off  it  kills  the  tree. 

"The  wood  is  very  heavy  and  white.  The  heart 
wood  shows  the  silver  grain  better  than  the  sap  wood. 
On  the  end  where  it  is  cut  off,  the  rays  are  very  fine, 
close  together,  and  very  straight.  The  fibers  of  the 
wood  are  not  easily  separated. 

"The  bark  of  the  striped  maple  is  thick  and 
fibrous.  When  dried,  it  is  light  reddish  brown  next 
to  the  wood,  and  black,  striped  with  dark  brown  and 


OF   EDUCATION  41 

green  outside,  with  little  raised  places  all  over  it. 
On  the  branches  the  bark  is  light  and  dark  green, 
red,  white  and  yellow,  with  a  great  number  of  small 
rings,  and  some  large  rings  where  branches  had  been. 

"  The  leaf  of  this  tree  is  about  six  inches  long  and 
four  inches  wide.  In  summer  the  leaf  has  a  light, 
delicate  green  color,  and  in  autumn  it  turns  to  a  deli- 
cate yellow  with  red  spots.  The  tree  has  a  great 
many  leaves,  and  they  are  large  for  a  small  tree. 
They  grow  opposite,  never  more  than  two  in  a  place, 
and  where  there  was  a  pair  of  leaves  last  year  there 
is  a  branch  this  year,  and  leaves  are  growing  on  it. 
All  the  leaves  have  either  three,  five  or  seven  veins 
close  to  the  stem,  and  many  veinlets  grow  in  all  di- 
rections from  these,  making  a  net-veined  leaf.  The 
margin  of  the  leaf  is  doubly  serrate,  and  the  apex  is 
very  sharp.  The  lobes  are  sharp  and  the  sinuses  are 
rounded  at  the  base. 

"  The  seeds  grow  in  large  clusters  of  forty  or  more. 
The  clusters  hang  downward  twined  in  among  the 
leaves.  In  the  spring  the  tree  has  a  flower  to  every 
seed.  When  the  blossom  falls  off  the  seed  begins  to 
form,  and  it  is  the  same  color  as  the  leaf,  and  in 
autumn  it  turns  yellow  and  falls  off.  The  seed  is  in  the 
shape  of  a  half  ball,  and  is  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter.  It  has  a  wing  an  inch  long  and  quarter 
of  an  inch  wide,  and  it  is  net-veined.     After  the  out- 


42  THE    NEW    METHOD 

side  shell  is  taken  off,  a  brown  seed  can  be  seen,  and 
if  the  outside  of  this  is  taken  off,  the  whole  tree  can  be 
seen.  There  are  two  leaves,  and  between  them  the 
trunk  with  the  root  on  the  end.  All  parts  of  the  little 
young  tree  are  a  light  yellowish  green  color." 

David. 

Dewdrops. 

"  This  morning  there  was  a  very  heavy  dew,  and  I 
could  see  thousands  of  rounded  dewdrops  on  the 
grass.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight,  for  the  dew  sparkled 
in  the  light  and  I  could  see  nearly  all  the  colors  of 
the  rainbow.  The  dew  comes  from  the  air.  There 
is  always  water  in  the  air,  and  the  whole  atmosphere 
always  contains  water  enough  to  cover  the  earth  sev- 
eral inches  deep.  When  the  air  is  made  cold  enough 
the  water  in  it  is  formed  into  perfect  little  globes  or 
drops  which  are  perfectly  round  like  the  little  globes  of 
mercury  we  saw  some  time  ago  in  the  experiments  in 
chemistry.  When  the  drops  of  water  are  formed  in 
a  cloud  and  fall  to  the  ground  we  say  it  rains  ;  when 
the  drops  are  so  small  we  cannot  see  them  they  form 
the  dew  on  the  grass  and  trees.  In  warm  weather 
when  we  have  a  pitcher  of  water  with  ice  in  it  the 
dew  collects  on  the  pitcher,  but  we  do  not  see  the 
little  globes  fall."  Helen. 


of  education  43 

The  Rock  Maple. 

"  The  Acer  saccharinum,  or  Rock  maple,  is  a  very 
beautiful  tree,  especially  in  autumn.  There  are  forty 
species  of  maple  in  the  world,  and  five  of  them  grow 
in  Massachusetts.  The  largest  rock  maples  grow  a 
hundred  feet  tall  and  six  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base. 
It  is  one  of  our  best  shade  trees  and  it  reaches  its  great- 
est size  and  perfection  in  Vermont  and  New  Hamp- 
shire. The  wood  is  white  and  very  solid  and  hard.  It 
makes  the  very  best  wood  to  burn,  and  it  is  highly 
prized  for  all  kinds  of  nice  furniture  on  account  of  its 
beautiful  silver-grain. 

11  The  leaf  of  this  tree  is  four  or  five  inches  long, 
and  it  has  many  sharp  points.  In  color  it  is  bright 
green  and  very  glossy.  The  leaf  is  net-veined  and 
the  veins  are  yellow.  The  stem  is  about  an  inch  and 
a  half  long,  and  there  are  several  small  grooves  run- 
ning the  whole  length.  The  pith  rays  are  very  fine 
and  lighter  in  color  than  the  rest  of  the  wood.  The 
annual  rings  are  quite  thick,  and  the  inner  part  of 
them  is  light  brown.  The  ducts,  if  any,  are  so  fine 
that  they  can  hardly  be  seen. 

' '  The  seeds  are  round  and  grow  together,  separated 
only  by  the  stem.  They  have  wings  of  a  light  buff 
color,  and  the  wings  have  many  fine  veins.  The  sap 
of  the  rock  maple  tree  contains  sugar,  and  if  twenty 
pounds  of  the  sap  is  boiled  away,  there  will  be  about 


44  THE    NEW   METHOD 

a  pound  of  sugar.     The  trees  are  tapped  for  the  sap 
about  the  first  of  March." 

Radiates. 

"  Our  science  work  for  to-day  is  the  study  of  the 
Starfish  and  Coral  Polyp.  Both  of  these  belong  to  a 
very  low  class  of  animals,  called  Radiates. 

"  There  are  hundreds  of  species  of  Polyps,  and 
they  all  live  in  the  ocean,  and  most  of  them  in  or 
near  the  Torrid  Zone.  They  differ  very  much  in  size, 
shape  and  color.  Some  are  microscopic,  and  some 
are  six  inches,  or  even  a  foot  in  diameter.  The  Polyp 
is  a  tube  with  a  round  disc  and  mouth  at  the  top, 
with  a  row  of  feelers  around  it.  The  feelers  draw  in 
particles  of  dirt,  or  animal  and  vegetable  substances 
which  are  the  food  of  the  Polyp.  These  animals 
never  move  from  their  place,  and  when  they  die 
the  skeleton  remains  and  helps  to  make  the  coral. 
Coral  is  of  many  colors  and  forms,  and  many  kinds 
are  very  beautiful.  Polyps  have  done  some  good,  for 
they  built  up  the  Maldive  and  Lacadive  Islands  of 
coral,  which  is  becoming  limestone  and  marble." 

The  Osmunda  Cinnamomea. 

' '  This  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  ferns  we  have 
studied,  and  it  is  as  interesting  as  it  is  pretty.  It  is 
found  in  all  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  River, 


OF   EDUCATION  45 

also  in  Mexico  and  Central  America,  and  in  Colom- 
bia, Venezuela  and  Brazil.  Also  in  Asia,  the  Bahama 
Islands,  Hayti  and  Cuba.  It  grows  from  two  feet  to 
five,  and  is  generally  found  in  shady,  low  places. 
Its  common  name  is  Cinnamon  Fern,  from  the  color  of 
the  wool. 

11  The  stipe  is  from  six  inches  to  two  feet  long,  and 
is  a  light  green  color.  Near  the  base  it  is  covered 
with  dark  brown  spots,  and  it  has  two  or  three  deep 
grooves  running  the  whole  length.  The  frond  is  from 
one  to  three  feet  in  length,  and  from  half  a  foot  to  a 
foot  in  width.     It  is  a  light  green  color. 

"  The  pinnae  are  from  two  to  six  inches  long  and 
nearly  an  inch  wide.  There  are  about  thirty-six  on 
the  rachis  and  they  are  all  opposite  except  near  the 
apex.  They  are  divided  into  lobes  which  are  cut 
down  nearly  to  the  mid-vein.  They  are  covered  with 
very  fine  hairs,  and  where  they  join  the  rachis  there 
is  some  wool.  The  wool  is  found  along  the  stipe, 
and  is  a  bright  cinnamon  color,  from  which  the  fern 
takes  its  name."  Edna. 

The  Mitra  Kpiscopalis. 

"We  have  just  finished  a  very  interesting  lesson 
on  the  mitre  shell.  It  belongs  to  the  f amity  of  Volu- 
tidae.  This  shell  is  about  three  and  a  half  inches 
long  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch  thick.     It  looks 


46  THE    NEW   METHOD 

like  a  bishop's  cap,  and  that  is  what  its  name  means. 
The  general  color  of  the  shell  is  white,  but  there  are 
large  bright  red  and  yellow  spots  all  over  it.- 

"There  are  two  rows  of  spots  nearly  a  fourth  of 
an  inch  square.  Just  above  these  there  is  a  row  of 
smaller  spots,  and  again  above  that  there  is  a  row 
of  much  larger  spots  which  are  all  different  shapes. 
Then,  on  the  next  whorl,  there  is  a  row  of  the  small 
spots,  and  above  that  there  is  a  row  of  five-sided 
spots.  Below  the  row  that  I  first  described  there  is 
one  rather  large  line  of  spots,  and  below  that  the 
lines  are  so  near  together  that  they  run  into  each 
other.  The  last  two  whorls  look  as  if  they  were  made 
of  glass. 

"  This  shell  has  very  fine  lines  running  parallel  to 
the  suture,  which  run  just  as  the  spots  do  from  whorl 
to  whorl.  This  shell  is  very  thick  and  heavy.  It 
weighs  1468  grains.  Like  all  other  shells,  it  is  com- 
posed of  oxygen  48  per  cent.,  calcium  40  per  cent., 
and  carbon  12  per  cent.  It  is  found  on  the  shores 
of  Ceylon,  in  shallow  water  not  more  than  a  hundred 
feet  deep."  Ellen. 

Botany. 

"We  are  studying  a  very  interesting  little  plant 
this  morning  which  belongs  to  the  Rose  Family. 
This  is  a  very  large  and  important  family  of  useful 


OF   EDUCATION  47 

plants.  It  contains  nearly  a  hundred  genera  and 
more  than  a  thousand  species.  It  includes  all  kinds 
of  roses  both  wild  and  cultivated,  —  all  pear,  cherry, 
and  apple  trees,  —  all  raspberries,  blackberries,  and 
strawberries,  —  all  peaches,  plums,  and  apricots. 

"  The  Spiraea  tomentosa,  orhardhack,  is  the  species 
we  have  for  study.  This  little  shrub  grows  about 
two  or  three  feet  high.  The  stem  is  quarter  of  an 
inch  thick  near  the  ground  and  only  half  as  large  in 
the  upper  part.  The  branches  and  leaves  are  alter- 
nate. The  leaf  is  ovate  and  has  a  serrate  margin 
and  a  sharp  apex.  It  is  dark  green  on  the  upper  side 
and  very  woolly  on  the  under  side.  The  flowers 
grow  in  a  large  cluster  at  the  top.  The  cluster  of 
flowers  is  an  inch  thick,  but  it  tapers  very  symmet- 
rically all  the  way  up  and  comes  to  a  sharp  point. 
This  plant  is  sometimes  called  steeple  bush,  because 
the  cluster  of  flowers  resembles  a  church  steeple,  and 
I  think  its  form  is  a  perfect  model  for  a  church  tower. ' ' 

Edith. 

The  Conus  Marmoreus. 
"  The  Conus  marmoreous  is  a  very  beautiful  shell. 
It  is  found  most  abundantly  near  the  Equator,  on  the 
shores  of  Borneo,  Sumatra,  Celebes,  Gilola,  Singa- 
pore, and  Amboyna.  It  is  found  as  far  north  as  the 
Mediterranean  and  Marmora  seas,  and  as  far  south  as 


48  THE    NEW    METHOD 

the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  It  is  never  found  in  fresh 
water,  but  the  best  place  for  it  is  in  salt  water  about 
from  two  hundred  feet  deep  to  the  shore.  There  are 
three  hundred  and  seventy-one  different  kinds  of  Cone 
shells  living,  and  eighty-four  kinds  fossil. 

"The  shell  is  about  three  inches  in  length,  and 
one  and  a  half  in  diameter.  It  is  covered  with  angu- 
lar white  spots  on  a  very  dark  brown  background. 
The  spots  are  edged  with  a  light  orange  color.  The 
spire  is  very  short  and  the  apex  is  very  blunt.  The 
aperture  is  long  and  narrow,  extending  the  whole 
length  of  the  body  whorl.  The  inside  of  it  is  white 
and  a  delicate  pink.  The  suture  has  little  teeth  about 
one-eighth  of  an  inch  apart,  and  the  same  in  height. 
These  teeth  are  white.  The  surface  of  the  shell  is 
very  smooth,  and  it  is  quite  thick  and  heavy.  The 
body  whorl  is  about  four  times  as  large  as  all  the  other 
whorls  taken  together,  and  the  base  is  grooved.  There 
is  a  little  notch  at  the  end  of  the  aperture,  near  the 
suture. 

11  The  mollusk  lives  on  the  flesh  of  other  mollusks 
and  occasionally  on  seaweed.  It  likes  a  warm  climate 
and  hollow  rocks  with  a  very  little  water.  It  travels 
very  slowly."  Ella. 

The  Wind. 
"  The  air  is  very  still  this  morning.     I  could  not 


OF   EDUCATION  49 

» 

find  out  which  way  the  wind  was  till  I  began  to  watch 
the  smoke  coming  out  of  the  chimneys.  There  were 
clouds  just  above  the  horizon  in  every  direction,  but 
I  could  not  see  them  move  at  all.  About  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  south  of  me  there  was  a  very  tall  chimney, 
and  the  dark  gray  smoke  went  up  exactly  straight 
about  sixty  or  seventy  feet,  I  should  say,  and  then  it 
went  almost  horizontally  towards  the  east.  Of  course 
I  concluded  that  the  wind  was  west.  Soon  I  began 
to  look  for  other  chimneys,  and  I  found  that  the  smoke 
was  going  in  a  slanting  way  to  the  west  from  all 
short  ones,  while  it  went  in  the  opposite  way  from 
the  highest  ones.  My  experience  this  morning  re- 
minded me  that  one  day  last  week  I  saw  clouds  high 
up  near  the  zenith  moving  in  three  different  direc- 
tions. One  cloud  went  south,  another  northeast,  and 
another  west.  This  last  went  very  fast  and  I  found 
that  it  was  not  up  nearly  as  high  as  the  others.' 

Emma. 

The  Apple  Tree. 

"This  tree  belongs  to  a  large  class  of  very  im- 
portant and  useful  plants  called  the  Rose  Family. 
The  family  contains  nearly  a  hundred  genera  and  a 
thousand  species  of  plants.  These  plants  furnish  by 
far  the  greater  part  of  our  most  delicious  fruits,  some 
of  which  are  the  peach,  quince,  apricot,  pear,  plum, 


50  THE    NEW    METHOD 

cherry,  strawberry,  raspberry,  and  blackberry.  The 
family  also  ornaments  onr  orchards  and  gardens  with 
the  most  beautiful  and  fragrant  blossoms  from  early 
spring  till  the  end  of  summer.  It  includes  all  the 
wild  roses,  such  as  the  sweet  brier  and  the  Rosa  Car- 
olina, all  cultivated  roses,  the  flowering  raspberry, 
the  spiraeas,  and  many  other  plants. 

' '  The  largest  trees  in  this  family  are  the  pear,  apple, 
cherry,  the  wild  sugar  pear,  and  the  mountain  ash. 
The  apple  tree  does  not  grow  tall,  but  spreads  out 
very  broad.  The  trunk  is  thick  and  short.  The 
branches  are  long,  and  they  grow  out  horizontally 
from  the  trunk.  The  tree  is  very  easy  to  climb,  and 
it  makes  a  beautiful  sight  when  it  is  in  full  bloom, 
and  again  when  the  apples  are  ripening. 

"  The  blossom  is  a  beautiful  color  of  light  pink  and 
white.  Just  under  the  five  petals  there  are  five  green 
sepals,  and  five  small  bracts  under  them.  The  flower 
has  twenty  stamens  and  all  its  parts  but  the  calyx 
drop  off  in  a  few  days,  but  the  sepals  always  remain, 
and  may  be  seen  on  the  end  of  the  apple  opposite  the 
stem.  In  the  apple  there  are  five  carpels,  or  seed- 
boxes,  and  two  seeds  in  each."  Edith. 


SAMPLES   OF   WORK   BONE    IN   THE 
GRAMMAR   SCHOOL    GRADES 


GRADE   V. 
The  Hemlock  Tree. 

"The  Abies  Canadensis,  or  common  hemlock 
spruce,  is  a  very  beautiful  evergreen  tree.  It  grows 
best  at  about  forty-five  degrees  north  latitude,  grow- 
ing there  about  eighty  feet  in  heig-ht  and  two  and 
one-half  feet  in  diameter.  It  is  found  as  far  north 
as  fifty-one  degrees  and  as  far  south  as  forty-one. 
It  is  the  most  graceful  tree  of  the  cone  bearing  fam- 
ily, and  lives  to  be  three  hundred  years  old.  It  grows 
as  far  west  as  the  Pacific  Ocean,  but  not  very  plenti- 
fully.    It  is  not  found  in  the  Old  World  at  all. 

' '  The  bark  is  very  rough  and  in  some  places  it  is  of 
a  bright  crimson  color.  The  inner  bark  is  of  a  dark 
brown  color  and  is  very  fibrous.  On  an  old  tree  the 
bark  is  very  rough,  but  on  the  branches  and  twigs  it 
is  always  smooth.  On  an  old  tree  the  bark  is  some- 
times an  inch  thick. 

"  The  wood  is  not  very  heavy,  and  is  fibrous.  The 
heart- wood  is  a  very  little  darker  than  the  sap-wood. 
The  wood  splits  very  easily,  because  the  rays  are  so 


52  THE    NEW    METHOD 

fine  that  they  cannot  hold  the  fibers  together  very 
strongly.  There  are  no  ducts.  The  wood  is  used 
mostly  for  timbers  for  barns,  and  sometimes  for  fuel. 
It  is  not  very  often  used  for  fuel,  for  it  snaps  a  great 
deal. 

"  The  leaf  of  the  hemlock  spruce  is  something  like 
that  of  the  pine.  It  is  linear,  and  is  about  one-third 
of  an  inch  in  length.  There  are  a  great  many  differ- 
ences between  the  leaves  of  the  hemlock  and  pine. 
The  pine  leaves  grow  in  clusters,  while  the  hemlock 
leaves  grow  singly.  The  pine  leaves  are  four-cor- 
nered, while  the  hemlock  leaves  are  flat.  They  are 
both  alike  in  remaining  green  all  winter.  The  hem- 
lock leaves  grow  on  a  small  stock ,  or  stem,  and  very 
thickly  together.  They  sprout  out  of  a  tiny  bulb, 
and  there  are  three  sets  of  them.  One  row  grows 
pointing  upward,  and  on  each  side  there  is  a  row 
pointing  outward.  The  leaves  are  a  very  bright 
green  color,  and  glossy  on  the  upper  side,  but  on  the 
under  side  they  are  a  light  green  with  tiny  white 
lines.  The  under  side  is  also  glossy.  The  margin 
is  entire  and  has  tiny  white  hairs. 

1 '  The  cone  of  the  hemlock  spruce  is  about  three- 
quarters  of  an  inch  long,  and  half  an  inch  thick.  It 
consists  of  many  very  small  scales,  which  are  of  a 
dark  brown  color.  The  seeds  are  about  one-fifth  of 
an  inch  long,  including  the  wing,  which  is  of  a  light 


OF    EDUCATION  53 

brown  color  and  very  thin  and  delicate.  The  seed- 
vessel  is  oval-shaped,  and  of  about  the  same  color  as 
the  wing." 

The  Birches. 

"  The  birches  are  very  beautiful  trees,  growing  in 
cold  climates.  They  grow  very  tall  toward  the 
north,  but  toward  the  south  they  are  smaller.  The 
best  place  for  them  is  about  sixty-five  degrees  north 
latitude.  There  are  twenty  kinds  of  birch  in  the 
world,  and  six  in  Massachusetts.  They  do  not  grow 
much  farther  south  than  the  New  England  states,  or 
farther  west  than  Wisconsin.  There  is  one  kind 
that  grows  on  the  island  of  Terra  del  Fuego.  The 
tallest  birches  grow  about  one  hundred  feet  high.' 

The  Betula  Papyracea. 

"  The  Betula  papyracea,  or  paper  birch,  is  a  very 
graceful  tree.  The  wood  is  nearly  white  and  is  made 
up  of  small  fibers.  The  pith-rays  are  very  fine,  but 
some  of  them  are  quite  long.  The  annual  rings  are 
rather  broad  and  far  apart,  so  that  we  can  easily  tell 
the  age  of  the  tree.  The  wood  is  used  for  a  variety 
of  things,  such  as  bureaus,  table-legs,  hat-blocks, 
and  will  burn  very  nicely.  When  it  is  split,  the 
ducts  can  be  seen  quite  plainly  on  the  end.  The 
bark  is  pure  white,  or  nearly  so,  and  is  very  thin.     It 


54  THE   NKW    METHOD 

will  split  into  pieces  as  fine  as  the  thinnest  tissue 
paper.  It  has  also  little  lines  about  half  an  inch 
long  and  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick  and  perfectly- 
straight.  They  are  not  in  a  straight  line,  but  are 
irregular.  The  leaf  is  ovate,  or  egg-shaped,  and 
varies  from  two  to  about  four  or  five  inches  in 
length.  The  margin  is  doubly-serrate  and  the 
apex  is  very  pointed.  The  base  is  rounded  and  for 
about  half  an  inch  each  side  of  the  stem  there  are  no 
notches.  The  mid-vein  is  very  large  and  also  the 
veinlets,  but  the  veinlets  can  hardly  be  seen.  The 
leaf  is  net- veined,  and  on  the  upper  side  it  is  much 
darker  than  on  the  under  side.  The  veins  can  be 
seen  much  more  plainly  on  the  under  side  than  on 
the  upper.  The  leaves  turn  yellow  in  the  autumn, 
and  grow  lighter  and  lighter  until  they  drop  off. 
The  stem,  or  petiole,  is  about  half  an  inch  long,  and 
is  quite  thick.  The  seeds  are  contained  in  a  tassel- 
like cone,  and  there  are  hundreds  of  them  in  a  single 
cone.  The  cone  is  called  a  strobile.  The  strobiles 
vary  in  shape  on  the  different  kinds  of  birch,  some 
being  larger  on  one  kind  than  those  of  another.  The 
seeds  are  of  two  different  shapes,  one  kind  being  very 
similar  to  the  leaf  of  a  cactus,  being  covered  with 
very,  very  fine  hairs,  that  we  cannot  see  without  a 
microscope.  The  other  kind  is  in  somewhat  the 
shape  of  a  butterfly,  having  a  body,  two  wings,  and 


OF   EDUCATION  55 

something  like  antennae.  The  strobile  is  the  name 
of  the  whole  cluster  of  seeds,  which  combined  make 
a  cone-like  appearance.  It  is  about  one  inch  or  more 
in  length,  and  is  of  a  light  reddish-brown  color  in 
the  autumn." 

The  Aspidium  Margin alk. 

"  We  have  had  a  lesson  today  upon  a  very  interest- 
ing and  beautiful  fern,  the  name  of  which  is  the 
Aspidium  marginale.  It  grows  about  fifteen  inches 
in  height,  and  bends  very  gracefully.  It  resembles 
the  tree  fern,  that  grew  thousands  of  years  ago,  more 
nearly  than  any  other  fern  growing  in  the  United 
States. 

1 '  The  stipe  is  about  five  inches  in  height,  and  is  of  a 
pale  yellow  color  shading  into  brown  near  the  base. 
There  is  a  deep,  broad  line  on  the  upper  side,  be- 
sides smaller  ones.  There  are  a  great  many  dark 
brown  dots  on  the  under  side.  The  stipe  is  flat  and 
rough,  and  is  much  wider  at  the  base  than  at  the 
part  nearest  the  frond.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
chaff  on  each  side  of  the  stipe  near  the  frond,  and  it 
is  of  a  light  brown  color. 

"  The  root  is  about  a  foot  in  length,  and  resembles 
the  roots  of  a  great  many  other  ferns.  It  is  covered 
with  small  rootlets  which  are  really  the  stipes  which 
grew  a  great  many  years  ago. 


56  THE   NEW    METHOD 

"  The  frond  is  a  little  more  than  twice  the  length  of 
the  stipe.  The  upper  side  is  of  a  bright,  dark  green 
color,  but  on  the  under  side  it  is  much  lighter  col- 
ored and  very  smooth  and  shiny.  The  rachis  is  not 
winged,  but  has  chaff  growing  out  on  each  side, 
which  when  pulled  out  leaves  a  little  dot,  like  those 
on  the  under  side  of  the  stipe.  There  is  also  a  broad 
line  near  the  center  of  the  rachis,  as  on  the  stipe. 
The  pinnae  are  alternate,  and  grow  nearer  together 
near  the  apex  than  near  the  base.  There  are  twenty- 
four  on  one  side  of  the  rachis  and  twenty-three  on 
the  other.  Those  pinnae  near  the  middle  of  the 
frond  are  about  three  inches  in  length  and  one-half 
an  inch  in  breadth,  while  the  two  lower  pinnae  are 
only  about  two  inches  long,  and  the  upper  ones  are 
so  small  it  is  difficult  to  count  them.  The  pinnules 
are  alternate,  and  have  an  entire  margin.  They  are 
about  a  third  of  an  inch  long  and  one-fourth  of  an 
inch  broad.  They  are  as  broad  at  the  base  as  they 
are  at  the  apex,  the  latter  being  round  and  broad. 
The  veins  are  of  a  dark  brownish-green  color,  and 
the  apex  of  the  pinnae  curves  upward. 

11  The  Aspidium  marginale  takes  its  first  name  from 
the  sori,  which  is  covered  with  a  little  napkin  that 
is  in  the  shape  of  a  shield,  Aspidium  in  Greek  mean- 
ing a  little  shield,  and  its  last  name,  marginale,  from 


OF   EDUCATION  57 

the  sori  growing  very  near  the  margin  of  the  pinnae. 
The  veinlets  are  forking. 

11  The  Aspidium  marginale  grows  on  rich  hillsides, 
and  between  rocks  in  rich  soil.  It  is  found  in  all  the 
states  east  of  the  Mississippi  river,  excepting  Florida. 
It  also  grows  in  Canada  as  far  north  as  fifty-two 
degrees  north  latitude,  and  as  far  west  as  Lake 
Winnipeg." 

Titanium  Ork. 

"This  is  a  very  sunny,  beautiful  day,  warm,  and 
very  clear  air.  The  wind  blows  very  gently  toward 
the  east  at  the  rate  of  about  three  or  four  miles  an 
hour.  The  sky  is  of  a  bright  shade  of  blue,  and  is 
partly  covered  with  stratus  and  cumulus  clouds.  We 
had  a  very  pleasant  recess  out  today,  and  when  we 
returned  we  had  our  second  lesson  on  minerals  this 
year.     The  subject  was  Titanium  ore. 

"  This  is  a  very  pretty  mineral  when  broken,  but  on 
the  outside  it  is  rather  common  and  plain  looking,  as 
the  colors  are  dull.  When  it  breaks  it  has  sharp 
angular  corners  and  sparkles  a  great  deal  when  held 
in  the  light.  In  one  hundred  grains  of  Titanium  ore 
there  are  sixty-one  grains  of  Titanium,  and  thirty- 
.  nine  grains  of  oxygen.  Titanium  is  a  metal  nearly 
as  valuable  as  gold,  and  it  crystallizes  in  cubes.  It 
is  very  rare,  and  very  few  people  know  how  to  obtain 


58  THE    NEW   METHOD 

it  from  the  ore.  Oxygen  is  an  invisible  gas,  that 
constitutes  the  greater  part  of  the  air,  and  makes  all 
animals  live.  It  is  in  water  and  a  great  many 
things.  Titanium  ore  is  very  hard  and  heavy,  and 
is  used  for  painting  on  porcelain,  and  for  giving  the 
proper  tint  to  artificial  teeth.  It  was  discovered  one 
hundred  years  ago  that  there  was  a  metal  in  it,  and 
chemists  worked  on  it  for  fifty  years  before  they 
named  it.  When  first  broken,  it  shows  crystals  that 
are  sometimes  of  eight,  twelve,  or  sixteen  sides,  and 
sometimes  of  no  definite  shape.  In  places  where  it 
is  broken,  it  is  of  a  reddish-silver  color,  and  some- 
times of  a  dark  silver  color.  But  the  lighter  color  is 
the  purest,  the  other  having  a  very  small  quantity  of 
iron  that  colors  it.  There  are  some  bright  red 
spots  on  the  broken  places.  Titanium  is  worth  two 
hundred  and  forty  dollars  a  pound,  and  burns  with  a 
more  beautiful  flame  than  any  other  metal.  Titanium 
ore  is  found  on  the  Ozark  Mountains,  in  Arkansas, 
the  Alleghany  Mountains  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
United  States,  the  Himalaya  Mountains  in  Asia,  the 
Rocky  Mountains  in  North  America,  the  Andes  in 
South  America.  It  is  also  found  in  England  and 
Spain. 

' '  This  ore  is  never  found  in  large  quantity  —  seldom 
if  ever,  more  than  a  few  ounces  at  any  place." 


GRADE    VI. 

The  Beeches. 

"  The  Beeches  are  a  very  beautiful  family  of  trees 
growing  in  moist,  rich  soil.  There  are  sixteen  differ- 
ent kinds  of  beech  trees  in  the  world,  but  only  one  in 
Massachusetts.  There  are  six  different  kinds  that 
grow  on  the  Andes  mountains  in  Chili.  They  grow 
on  the  islands  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  New  Zealand, 
Van  Diemen's  I^and,  and  in  the  western  part  of 
Asia,  the  northern  part  of  Europe  and  America.  But 
the  tallest  are  found  in  western  Massachusetts  and  in 
Ohio,  growing  there  about  one  hundred  feet  high  and 
from  two  and  a  half  to  three  feet  thick.  They  also 
grow  along  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  river." 

The  American  Beech. 

"The  Fagus  ferruginea  or  American  beech  is  a 
very  beautiful  tree.  The  wood  is  of  a  reddish-brown 
color  near  the  pith,  but  near  the  bark  it  is  much 
lighter.  It  is  quite  heavy  and  is  composed  of  very 
fine  fibers.  The  pith-rays  are  rather  thick,  and  can 
be  seen  only  on  two  opposite  sides.  On  the  other 
two  sides  the  ends  of  them  can  be  seen.  The  tree  we 
studied  to-day  is  a  little  more  than  fifty  years  old, 
and  for  that  reason  it  is  more  red  than  a  younger  tree 


60  TH^  new  method 

would  be.  The  wood  is  used  for  plane  stocks,  chair- 
posts,  saw-handles,  and  sometimes  for  shoe-lasts. 
The  bark  is  light  and  dark  gray  on  the  outside,  but 
golden-brown  on  the  inside.  It  is  very  brittle,  rather 
smooth  and  quite  thin.  There  are  very  small  black 
dots  on  it,  and  there  are  no  fibers. 

"  The  leaf  varies  in  length  from  about  three  to  five 
inches  and  is  net-veined  and  feather-veined.  It  is  of 
an  ovate  shape,  with  an  accuminate  apex.  The  mid- 
vein  is  covered  with  very  fine  hairs,  which  can  be 
seen  more  plainly  on  the  under  side  than  on  the 
upper.  On  the  under  side  the  veins  are  raised  from 
the  leaf.  The  margin  is  coarsely  serrate,  and  there 
is  a  notch  at  the  end  of  every  veinlet.  The  margin 
is  fringed  with  very  fine  hairs  that  can  be  seen  very 
plainly.  The  stem,  or  petiole,  is  very  short  and 
crooked.  The  upper  side  of  the  leaf  is  much  darker 
than  the  under  side,  and  much  smoother.  In  the 
spring,  and  especially  when  the  leaf  is  unfolding,  the 
under  side  is  covered  all  over  with  hairs,  and  looks 
very  pretty.  The  bud  that  contains  the  leaf  forms 
in  the  autumn  and  remains  on  the  tree  all  winter 
until  they  unfold  in  the  spring.  The  leaves  turn 
yellow  and  brown  late  in  the  autumn,  but,  unlike 
those  of  some  other  kinds  of  trees,  they  remain  on 
until  killed  by  frost,  late  in  the  winter.  The  seed  of 
the  beech  tree  is  the  beechnut,  which  is  held  and  fas- 


OF   EDUCATION  6 1 

tened  by  a  bur.  The  bur  has  four  lobes  and  they 
are  on  two  opposite  sides.  They  are  covered  with 
little  prickles  on  the  outside,  but  on  the  inside 
they  are  very  smooth.  The  beechnuts  themselves 
are  very  smooth  and  there  are  generally  two  nuts  tc 
each  bur.  They  are  triangular,  having  three  sharp 
sides  and  coming  to  a  very  sharp  point.  The  nuts 
are  very  good  to  eat,  and  in  France  they  press  great 
quantities  of  them  for  the  oil,  which  is  good  for 
flavoring  different  articles  of  food.  The  stem  of  the 
bur  is  soft  and  covered  with  very  fine  hairs  like  the 
edge  of  the  leaf.  The  nuts  are  very  small,  being 
only  about  half  an  inch  long,  and  each  one  of  the 
three  sides  are  about  the  same  length.  They  are 
a  little  larger  on  some  other  kinds  of  beech.  The 
stem  of  the  bur  is  only  about  one-third  of  an  inch 
long  and  about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick.  When 
the  nuts  are  in  the  bur  the  two  flat  sides  come 
together." 

The  Oaks. 

"  The  Oaks  are  not  a  very  graceful  class  of  trees, 
but  are  very  majestic  and  strong.  They  are  distin- 
guished for  their  great  rough  bark,  the  beauty  of  the 
leaves,  for  growing  very  tall  and  large,  and  also  for 
growing  very  old.  Some  of  them  have  been  found 
one   thousand   years   old.     They    are   found    in   the 


62  THE    NEW   METHOD 

northern  part  of  Africa,  in  Europe,  in  Asia,  and 
North  America.  They  are  also  found  on  the  islands 
of  Borneo,  Celebes,  Sumatra  and  Java.  There  are 
about  one  hundred  and  forty-four  different  kinds  of 
oak  trees  in  the  world,  twelve  of  which  grow  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. They  do  not  grow  at  all  in  the  North 
frigid  zone,  as  it  is  too  cold  for  them,  but  mostly  in 
the  north  temperate  zone,  with  a  few  kinds  in  the 
torrid.  They  very  rarely  grow  below  the  Equator, 
and  only  a  short  distance.  They  grow  as  far  north 
as  Hudson  Bay,  and  all  over  North  America  below 
there.  But  they  grow  best  on  rocky  mountains  and 
rocky  hills." 

The  Quercus  Rubra. 

"The  Quercus  rubra,  or  common  red  oak,  is  excelled 
by  none  of  the  oaks  in  point  of  strength,  majesty,  and 
beauty.  It  grows  best  in  Massachusetts,  but  grows 
very  well  in  the  adjoining  states.  It  does  not  grow 
farther  north  than  the  southern  end  of  Hudson's  Bay, 
or  farther  south  than  South  Carolina.  They  grow 
west  as  far  as  West  Virginia.  They  grow  about 
ninety  feet  high  at  the  tallest  and  four  feet  thick. 
The  wood  is  of  a  light  reddish  color,  and  is  composed 
of  fibers.  It  is  of  a  darker  color  near  the  pith,  and 
the  wood  near  the  pith  is  called  heart- wood,  and  that 
near  the   bark   is  called  sap-wood.     The  ducts  are 


OF    EDUCATION  63 

quite  large  near  the  bark,  but  grow  smaller  as  they 
reach  the  pith,  until  they  can  hardly  be  seen.  They 
are  on  the  annual  rings.  The  pith-rays  are  quite 
large  and  wide.  The  annual  rings  can  hardly  be 
seen,  as  they  are  so  perforated  with  ducts.  The 
wood  is  used  for  a  variety  of  things,  such  as  shingles 
for  barns,  sometimes  for  ships,  and  timber.  It  is 
very  good  for  floors,  but  it  is  very  Jhard  to  dry. 
Wood  that  has  been  kept  eighty  years  in  a  house 
will  not  be  dry,  and  if  burned,  the  sap  will  ooze  out. 
The  bark  is  of  a  light  gray  color  and  thin. 

"  The  leaf  is  about  four  or  five  inches  in  length, 
and  three  inches  broad  at  the  widest  part.  It  has  nine 
lobes,  and  the  sinuses  are  very  deep  and  rounded. 
Each  lobe  has  a  very  sharp  bristle,  and  from  two  to 
four  bristles  on  the  sides.  The  apex  is  rather  accu- 
mulate, and  has  a  bristle  at  the  end.  The  leaf  is 
oval-shaped,  growing  larger  near  the  apex.  The 
petiole  is  red  on  the  upper  side,  but  is  yellow  on  the 
under,  and  is  not  quite  round.  The  mid-vein  shows 
much  more  plainly  on  the  under  side  than  on  the 
upper,  and  also  the  veinlets.  The  under  side  of  the 
leaf  is  much  the  lighter.  In  the  autumn  the  leaves 
turn  to  a  brownish-red  color,  and  that  is  one  reason 
why  the  tree  is  called  the  red  oak.  They  never 
turn  yellow.     The  leaf  is  net-veined. 

"The   acorn   is    about   one  inch  long  and   three- 


64  THE    NEW   METHOD 

quarters  through,  and  looks  as  if  it  had  been  highly- 
polished.  The  apex  is  large  and  rounded,  and 
around  it  for  about  one-quarter  of  an  inch  there  is  a 
little  white  silky  skin.  The  shell  of  the  red  acorn  is 
thicker  than  that  of  the  white  oak,  and  will  not 
shrivel  up.  If  we  cut  off  the  shell,  we  find,  by  pinch- 
ing a  little,  a  crack  by  which  we  can  pull  apart  the 
meat,  and  we  find  that  the  two  parts  are  connected  at 
the  bottom  by  a  hinge.  When  the  acorn  sprouts  in 
the  ground,  this  hinge  forms  either  the  trunk  or  the 
roots  of  the  tree.  The  cup  is  composed  of  little 
scales  which  are  pressed  in  so  hard  as  to  present  a 
very  smooth  appearance.  It  is  of  a  reddish-brown 
color  and  quite  shallow.  The  inside  of  the  cup  is  of 
a  brown  color.  On  the  bottom  there  is  a  little 
cushion,  which  is  what  the  acorn  rests  on.  It 
is  white  and  brown.  The  inside  of  the  cup  is 
very  smooth,  and  around  the  edges  it  is  of  a  bright 
orange  color  and  is  full  of  little  cells  like  honey- 
comb. This  orange-colored  line  is  the  inside  of 
the  scales.  The  stem  is  very  short  and  rough,  but 
quite  thick." 

The  Strombus  Lam  bis 
"  The  Strombus  lambis  is  a  very  curious  and  beau- 
tiful shell,  but  entirely  unlike  any  other  species  of 
Strombus  we  have  ever  studied.     It  is  of  a  reddish- 


OF    EDUCATION  65 

brown  color  on  the  outside,  but  the  inside  of  the 
outer  lip  and  aperture  is  of  a  bright  salmon  color.  It 
is  very  thick  and  heavy.  There  are  seven  whorls, 
but  the  upper  whorls  are  very  indistinct  and  difficult 
to  count.  On  the  body  whorl  there  are  three  rows  of 
knobs,  but  the  one  nearest  the  suture  is  twice  as 
large  as  the  other  two  rows.  These  rows  of  knobs 
run  parallel  with  the  suture  and  are  about  one-third 
of  an  inch  apart.  They  form,  when  they  reach  the 
outer  lip,  long  .spines  or  claws.  There  are  six  claws, 
and  the  two  upper  ones  are  about  one  inch  long, 
while  the  others  are  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch 
long.  The  upper  one  grows  out  very  near  the  apex, 
but  curves  toward  the  apex  in  such  a  way  as  to 
nearly  cover  it  up.  This  gives  it  the  appearance  of 
being  the  continuation  of  the  apex.  The  two  upper 
claws  are  somewhat  straight,  but  the  others  are 
straight  only  about  half  way,  and  then  curve  upward. 
Between  the  lines  that  form  a  portion  of  the  claws, 
there  are  other  raised  lines  running  in  the  same 
direction.  The  claws  are  hollow.  There  is  a  canal 
about  an  inch  long,  at  the  lower  end  of  the  aperture. 
The  base  of  the  shell  curves  in,  near  the  upper  end 
of  the  canal.  This  part  of  the  shell  is  very  thin  and 
brittle,  and  also  translucent.  There  are  rounded 
knobs  on  the  edge  of  the  outer  lip,  which  are  of  a 
yellowish   white  color.     The   pillar  is   of   the   same 


66  THE    NEW    METHOD 

color  as  these  knobs,  and  is  very  smooth.  There  is 
a  light  pink  spot  on  the  side  of  the  shell  near  the 
pillar.     The  suture  can  not  be  seen. 

' '  The  mollusk  lives  in  shallow  water  around  the 
Japan  Islands,  the  Philippine  Islands,  Borneo, 
Sumatra,  Java,  Celebes,  Gilolo,  Ceram,  Amboyna, 
Timor,  Sumbawa,  Sumba,  Socotra,  Ceylon,  the 
Maldive  and  Laccadive  Islands,  the  Comoro  Islands, 
Madagascar,  Mauritius  and  Reunion,  and  on  the 
coasts  of  China,  Hindostan,  Beluchistan,  Persia, 
Arabia,  Turkey,  Somali,  Zanguebar,  Mozambique, 
Zulu  Land,  Natal,  Caffraria  and  Cape  Colony. 
There  are  one  thousand  of  the  Japan  Islands,  and 
they  are  very  mountainous,  some  of  the  mountains 
being  two  miles  high.  The  best  market-places  for 
the  Strombus  lambis  are  at  Tokio,  the  capital  of 
Japan,  Borneo,  the  capital  of  Borneo,  Manila,  the 
capital  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  Colombo,  the  capi- 
tal of  Ceylon,  and  Tananarivo,  the  capital  of  Mada- 
gascar. There  are  sixty-five  different  species  of 
Strombus,  and  we  have  studied  five,  the  Strombus 
Canarium,  the  Strombus  lentiginosus,  the  Strom- 
bus pugilis,  the  Strombus  melanostoma,  and  the 
Strombus   lambis." 

Asbestus 
''This  is  a  very  beautiful  day,   but  considerably 


OF   EDUCATION  67 

cooler  than  any  day  we  have  had  this  week.  The 
wind  blows  quite  roughly  toward  the  northwest,  and 
at  about  the  rate  of  eight  or  nine  miles  an  hour.  It 
takes  a  good  deal  of  dust  along  with  it,  as  we  have 
not  had  any  rain  for  several  days.  The  sky  is  of  a 
light  shade  of  blue,  and  there  are  a  great  many  beau- 
tiful cumulus  clouds,  some  of  them  being  rather  dark 
colored.  We  did  several  problems  in  Interest  before 
recess  this  morning,  and  then  we  went  out  and  had  a 
very  nice  time.  When  we  came  in  we  had  a  lesson 
on  a  mineral  called  Asbestus. 

"This  is  a  very  interesting  as  well  as  beautiful 
mineral,  more  beautiful  than  any  we  have  had  this 
year.  It  is  called  fibrous  asbestus,  because  it  is 
made  up  of  fibers.  It  is  always  found  between  two 
banks  of  other  kinds  of  rock.  The  fibers  are  of  a 
greenish-white  color,  and  will  not  burn.  For  this 
reason  the  Greeks  and  Romans  used  it  to  make  nap- 
kins of,  as  when  they  became  soiled,  the  way  to 
clean  them  was  to  put  them  in  a  hot  fire,  which 
would  burn  the  dirt  off.  They  also  used  it  for  wicks 
for  lamps,  which  they  kept  constantly  burning  in 
their  temples  to  the  heathen  gods  and  goddesses,  and 
it  was  known  to  burn  for  hundreds  of  years  without 
consuming.  For  that  reason  the  Greeks  named  it 
asbestos,  meaning  in  the  Greek  language,  not  to  be 
consumed.     The   people    now    use    it    for    firemen's 


68  THE    NEW   METHOD 

gloves,  and  other  things.  It  is  of  various  shades  of 
green,  beautifully  mixed,  and  when  held  in  the  light 
it  sparkles  like  very  bright  silver.  When  the  fibers 
are  separated,  which  is  very  easily  done,  they  can 
be  twisted  into  a  verj^  strong  cord.  They  are  very 
fine,  and  it  irritates  the  skin  if  rubbed  against  it.  It 
is  composed  of  oxygen,  silicon,  magnesium  and  cal- 
cium, but  the  percentage  is  not  known  for  certainty, 
as  it  is  very  difficult  to  analyze.  Each  little  fiber  is 
a  crystal.  It  is  very  heavy,  but  it  is  not  known  what 
the  degree  of  hardness  is.  It  is  a  variety  of  Horn- 
blende, and  the  only  variety  that  is  used  for  anything. 
It  is  found  on  the  Alleghany  Mountains  in  the  eastern 
oart  of  the  United  States,  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains 
in  the  western  part  of  the  United  States,  the  Sierra 
Madre  Mountains  in  Mexico,  the  Apennines  in  Italy, 
the  Atlas  Mountains  in  Morocco,  in  the  northwestern 
part  or  Africa,  the  Himalaya  Mountains  in  Asia,  and 
the  Hecla  Volcano  in  Iceland.  The  market-places 
for  asbestus  are  at  Uittle  Rock,  the  capital  of 
Arkansas,  Harrisburg,  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania, 
Reykjavic,  the  capital  of  Iceland,  Mexico,  the  capi- 
tal of  Mexico,  Sacramento,  the  capital  of  California, 
Rome,  the  capital  of  Italy,  Calcutta,  the  capital  of 
Hindostan,  and  Morocco,  the  capital  of  Morocco. 
Also  Quebec,  the  capital  of  Canada." 


GRADE   VII. 
The  Ostrya  Virginica. 

"  The  Ostrya  Virginica,  or  common  Hop-horn- 
beam is  a  very  beautiful  tree.  It  is  also  quite  grace- 
ful, as  the  twigs  are  very  small.  In  most  parts  of 
America  it  is  called  iron-wood,  but  in  Maine,  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Massachusetts  it  is  gener- 
ally called  lever- w7ood.  It  grows  best  at  about  forty- 
three  degrees  north  latitude,  growing  there  about 
forty  feet  high  and  one  foot  in  diameter.  It  is  found 
in  all  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  as  far 
north  as  the  Strait  of  Belle  Isle,  the  East  Main  and 
Albany  rivers  and  Eake  Winnipeg.  It  is  the  only 
kind  of  Ostrya  growing  in  North  America  and  there 
are  only  about  six  in  the  world. 

' '  The  bark  is  thinner  than  that  of  any  other  tree 
we  have  studied,  and  the  outer  bark  is  quite  rough. 
The  outer  bark  is  of  different  shades  of  brown  mixed 
with  black,  while  the  inner  bark  is  of  a  golden  brown 
color  and  very  fibrous. 

"  The  wood  of  the  hop-hornbeam  is  of  a  light  color, 
but  the  heart-wood  is  very  nearly  the  color  of  the 
black  walnut.  It  is  very  hard  and  heavy  and  is  com- 
posed of  very  fine  fibers.  It  is  also  very  hard  to  split. 
The  rays  are  very  fine,  and  the  ducts  can  hardly  be 


7<D  THE    NEW    METHOD 

seen.  The  annual  rings  can  be  seen  very  plainly. 
It  resembles  the  moose- wood,  birch,  and  rock  maple 
very  much.  It  is  used  for  the  cogs  of  mill-wheels, 
mallets,  and  binding-poles. 

11  The  hop-hornbeam  tree  has  a  very  beautiful  leaf, 
greatly  resembling  that  of  the  birch.  It  is  about 
three  inches  in  length,  and  about  one  inch  in  diam- 
eter. It  is  of  a  pointed  ovate  shape  and  has  a  doubly 
serrate  margin.  The  apex  is  very  sharp,  and  the 
veinlets  are  parallel. 

' '  The  seed  of  the  hop-hornbeam  is  about  one-half 
of  an  inch  long,  including  the  sack  which  encloses  it. 
This  little  sack  is  very  thin  and  brittle,  and  is  of  a 
delicate  brown  color.  The  seeds  themselves  are  only 
about  one-quarter  of  an  inch  long  and  quite  hard. 
The  seeds  grow  in  clusters,  and  the  clusters  are  about 
one  inch  and  a  half  in  length.  The  seed  has  a  very 
sharp  apex,  and  is  covered  with  fine  prickly  hairs. 
The  sack  is  net-veined,  and  is  translucent.  The 
clusters  of  seeds  greatly  resemble  hops,  which 
accounts  for  its  being  named  hop-hornbeam." 

SideriTE. 

"This  is  a  cold  but  pleasant  day,  and  the  sun 
shines  brightly.  There  are  no  clouds  in  the  sky. 
This  morning  there  was  a  slight  haze  in  the  air, 


OF   EDUCATION  7 1 

making  distant  objects  look  indistinct.     There  is  a 
gentle  west  wind  blowing  now. 

"  We  have  had  a  pleasant  lesson  on  a  mineral 
called  siderite.  This  beautiful  and  interesting  min- 
eral is  of  a  dark  golden  brown  color,  with  cleavage 
faces  running  in  three  directions.  It  is  a  kind  of 
steel  ore.  Massive  siderite  has  rough  surfaces,  with 
the  cleavage  faces  in  small  pieces.  Siderite  crystal- 
lizes in  rhombohedrons,  but  is  rarely  found  crystal- 
lized. It  is  composed  of  three  elements,  iron,  oxygen, 
and  carbon.  Forty-eight  per  cent,  of  sid'erite  is  iron, 
forty-two  per  cent,  is  oxygen,  and  ten  per  cent,  is 
carbon.  Iron  is  the  most  useful  of  all  metals,  and 
the  most  abundant  of  all  elements  after  oxygen, 
silicon,  and  aluminum.  It  is  used  for  a  great  many 
things.  Oxygen  is  the  most  abundant  of  all  elements. 
It  is  an  invisible  gas,  and  supports  fire,  and  all  ani- 
mal life.  It  makes  up  eighty-nine  per  cent,  of  water, 
and  fort)-- five  per  cent,  of  the  whole  crust  of  the 
earth.  Carbon  is  the  same  as  charcoal,  and  the  dia- 
mond is  pure  crystallized  carbon.  It  is  a  very  use- 
ful element.  The  luster  of  siderite  greatly  resembles 
that  of  feldspar,  but  it  has  a  little  of  a  metallic  luster, 
besides  the  pearly.  Some  very  smooth  cleavage 
planes  are  slightly  iridescent.  The  degree  of  hard- 
ness is  four,  a  little  more  than  that  of  galena,  which 
is   about   three.     The  specific  gravity  is  four,  about 


72  THE    NEW    METHOD 

half  that  of  galena.  Siderite  is  often  found  in  cryo- 
lite, and  my  largest  specimen  contains  some  of  that 
mineral.  I  have  a  specimen  of  siderite  which  is  of  a 
much  lighter  color  than  the  other,  and  contains  some 
copper  and  iron  pyrite  which  is  in  some  places  irides- 
cent. The  copper  pyrite  is  of  a  very  bright  golden 
color,  shading  to  red  in  some  places.  Siderite,  when 
held  in  the  light,  sparkles  very  beautifully,  owing  to 
the  cleavage  faces. 

"  It  is  found  in  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  but  not  in  large  quantities, 
it  being  found  most  plentifully  in  Connecticut  and  in 

f 

Greenland.  It  is  also  found  in  England,  Germany, 
Austria  and  Russia." 

The  Strombus  Meeanostoma. 

' '  The  Strombus  melanostoma  is  a  very  beautiful 
shell.  It  resembles  the  Strombus  pugilis  somewhat 
in  shape,  but  it  is  narrower  in  proportion  to  the 
length  than  that  shell,  or  any  other  kind  of  Strombus 
we  have  studied.  It  is  found  on  the  shores  of  the 
Andaman  and  Nicobar  islands  and  in  all  the  places 
where  the  Conus  striatus  is  found.  The  best  market- 
places for  this  shell  are  at  Calcutta,  Colombo,  and 
Bombay.  There  are  only  sixty-five  different  species 
of  Strombus  in  the  world. 

"  The  Strombus  melanostoma  is  about  three  inches 


OF    EDUCATION  73 

in  length  and  one  and  one-half  in  breadth.  It  is 
very  heavy.  There  are  seven  whorls,  and  the  apex 
is  rather  blunt.  The  body  whorl  has  three  rows  of 
knobs  running  parallel  with  the  suture.  The  one 
nearest  the  suture  has  longer  knobs  than  the  other 
two  rows.  The  other  whorls  have  only  one  row  of 
knobs  and  after  the  two  whorls  nearest  the  body 
whorl  they  can  hardly  be  seen.  All  the  whorls  are  of 
a  light  grayish  white  color,  but  if  held  in  the  sun- 
light, they  have  a  pearly  luster,  particularly  near  the 
apex.  There  are  great  numbers  of  lines  running  in 
the  same  direction  as  the  knobs,  which  are  raised. 
The  lines  of  growth  are  scarcely  perceptible.  The 
suture  is  quite  broad  and  considerably  raised.  The 
upper  part  of  the  pillar  is  of  a  rich  black  color  shad- 
ing into  a  bright  orange,  near  the  base.  The  lower 
half  projects  in  toward  the  aperture.  The  inside  of 
the  aperture  is  also  of  a  bright  orange  color  in  as  far 
as  we  can  see  and  is  very  smooth.  The  edge  of  the 
outer  lip  curves  in,  and  is  very  thick.  The  outside 
is  striped  with  white  and  brown.  Inside  of  these 
stripes  there  is  a  brown  and  silver  stripe,  running 
lengthwise,  while  the  other  lines  run  crosswise.  At 
the  upper  end  of  the  aperture,  there  is  a  long  point 
projecting  upward.  This  point  is  about  one-third  of 
an  inch  in  length,  and  is  of  a  black  color.  Between 
this  point  and  the  shell  there  is  a  broad,  deep  notch 


74  THE   NEW    METHOD 

or  canal  of  the  same  color  as  the  point.  There  is  also 
a  very  long,  narrow  canal  formed  by  the  base  curv- 
ing outward.  There  is,  near  this  canal,  what  seems 
to  be  another  canal.  This  is  made  by  the  lower  edge 
of  the  outer  lip  curving  backward  and  inward." 

The  Fraxinus  Americana. 

"  The  Fraxinus  Americana,  or  common  white  ash, 
is  a  very  beautiful  tree.  When  young  it  is  of  a  very 
graceful  shape,  but  when  old  it  is  rather  stiff.  It 
grows  best  at  about  the  same  place  as  the  hemlock 
spruce,  but  the  very  best  place  for  them  is  on  the 
banks  of  the  Penobscot,  Kennebec,  Androscoggin, 
Merrimac,  Connecticut,  Hudson,  Delaware,  and  Sus- 
quehanna rivers.  The  tallest  are  found  as  high  as 
eighty  feet,  and  three  feet  in  diameter,  sometimes 
growing  as  high  as  fifty  or  sixty  feet  without  a  limb. 
They  are  found  as  far  south  as  the  hemlock  spruce, 
about  as  far  south  as  the  Middle  States  reach. 

"  The  bark  is  rather  thick  and  on  the  outside  it  is 
quite  rough.  The  outer  bark  is  of  different  shades  of 
brown  and  gray,  and  there  are  a  great  many  lichens 
on  it.  The  inner  bark  is  of  an  orange  brown  color 
and  the  layers  are  easily  seen.  It  has  rather  a 
spicy  odor. 

"The  heart- wood  of  the  white  ash  is  a  very  little 
darker  than  the  sap-wood.     The  color  of  the  wood  is 


OF   EDUCATION  75 

a  light  reddish-brown,  quite  like  that  of  the  black 
cherry.  It  is  rather  heavy  and  fibrous.  The  ducts 
are  quite  large,  and  the  silver-grain  is  easily  seen 
and  sparkles  when  held  to  the  light.  The  rays  are 
very  fine.  The  pith  is  quite  soft.  The  wood  is  very 
hard  and  tough,  and  is  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes, 
such  as  frames  for  chairs  and  sofas,  handles  for  ham- 
mers, rakes,  hoes,  and  shovels,  bows,  oars  for  boats, 
and  other  things. 

"  The  white  ash  has  a  compound  leaf,  with  gener- 
ally five  leaflets.  They  grow  opposite  on  the  stem, 
with  one  odd  one  at  the  top.  The  leaf  varies  in 
length,  from  six  to  about  ten  inches  including  the 
petiole.  The  top  leaflet  is  much  the  largest,  being 
about  four  inches  and  a  half  in  length  and  three 
inches  wide.  The  other  leaflets  are  about  all  differ- 
ent in  size  and  shape.  The  upper  side  of  the  leaflets 
is  of  a  dark  green  color,  but  the  under  side  is  of  a 
light  silver  green  color.  The  veinlets  and  the  mid- 
veins  are  raised  up  on  the  under  side  and  are  also  of 
a  very  light  silver  color.  The  shape  of  the  leaflets  is 
ovate  and  pointed,  and  the  apex  is  rather  blunt. 
The  margin  is  serrate  and  the  teeth  are  rather  far 
apart.  The  petiole  is  nearly  round,  and  is  of  a  light 
yellowish-brown  color.  The  petiolules  are  very  short 
and  are  of  about  the  same  color  as  the  petiole.     They 


76  THE    NEW   METHOD 

are  very  fine.     The  leaves  turn  in  the  autumn  to  a 
yellowish-brown  color,  and  they  are  very  thin. 

"  The  seed  resembles  that  of  the  black  ash  in  many 
respects,  and  also  differs  from  it  in  many  respects. 
It  is  not  so  broad  as  that  of  the  black  ash,  but  is  of 
about  the  same  color.  It  is  of  a  light  greenish-yel- 
low, and  is  about  two  inches  long,  and  one-third  of 
an  inch  broad.  The  seed-vessel  is  oval-shaped  and 
is  very  thick.  The  seed  has  one  wing  which  is 
parallel-veined  and  quite  thick." 

The  Adiantum  Pedatum. 

"  Our  lesson  to-day  is  upon  a  very  graceful  as  well 
as  beautiful  fern,  and  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
growing  in  North  America.  It  is  called  the  Adian- 
tum pedatum,  but  a  more  common  name  is  maiden's 
hair.  It  grows  from  eight  to  fifteen  inches  in  height, 
in  rich  soil,  rather  damp,  and  in  shady  places.  It 
often  grows  in  the  same  places  with  the  Aspidium 
marginale. 

' '  The  root  of  this  fern  resembles  that  of  the  Ono- 
clea  sensibilis,  and  is  about  twice  as  large  as  the 
stipe.  It  grows  horizontally  on  the  top  of  the  ground. 
The  stipe  is  about  seven  inches  long,  and  quite  thick. 
There  are  several  grooves  on  the  upper  side,  some 
being  deeper  than  others.  The  upper  side  is  nearly 
black,  but  the   under  side  is  of  a  rich  dark  brown 


OF    EDUCATION  77 

color,  and  both  sides  are  polished.  The  rachis  is 
divided  into  two  parts,  each  of  which  are  again 
divided  into  five  parts,  called  the  secondary  rachises. 
They  are  of  a  lighter  color  than  the  stipe,  and  are 
grooved.  There  are  eleven  pinnae,  the  longest  be- 
ing about  seven  inches  in  length,  and  the  shortest 
only  about  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length.  The  frond 
is  about  ten  inches  in  breadth,  and  six  in  height. 
The  general  shape  is  very  much  like  a  fan.  The 
pinnules  average  about  one-third  of  an  inch  in 
breadth,  and  one-half  an  inch  in  length.  They  are 
of  a  pale  green  color,  and  the  veinlets  are  forking. 
The  under  side  of  the  pinnules  is  not  as  smooth  as 
the  upper.  The  lower  margin  is  entire,  but  the  up- 
per margin  is  notched,  and  the  edge  of  the  pinnules 
next  the  stipe  is  parallel  to  it.  The  stem  is  very 
short  and  fine.  There  are  about  thirty  pinnules  on 
the  largest  pinnae,  and  on  the  smaller  ones  about 
fifteen.  The  sori  grow  in  a  very  curious  manner. 
A  small  portion  of  the  edge  of  the  pinnule  is  turned 
over,  with  the  sori  underneath.  They  are  crescent 
shaped,  and  are  very  small.  It  would  take  five  hun- 
dred of  them  placed  side  by  side  to  reach  one  inch. 

"  The  Adiantum  pedatum  grows  in  all  the  States 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  except  Florida,  and  in 
Washington  Territory,  Oregon,  California,  and  Utah 
Territory.     It  also  grows  in  British  America  as  far 


78  THK    NEW   METHOD 

north  as  the  East  Main  River,  in  Newfoundland  and 
as  far  west  as  Lake  Winnipeg  ;  in  British  Colombia, 
and  on  the  islands  south  of  Alaska.  It  grows  in 
Asia  in  Nepaul,  a  province  in  the  north  of  India  in 
Mantchooria,  one  of  the  northern  divisions  of  the 
Chinese  Empire,  and  in  the  Japan  Empire,  and 
Kamtchatka.  This  makes  about  one-nineteenth  of 
the  land  surface  of  the  earth." 

Zircon. 

"  This  is  not  a  very  pleasant  day,  but  cloudy,  with 
the  sun  shining  at  intervals.  A  disagreeable  snow- 
storm commenced  Saturday  afternoon,  and  continued 
a  good  part  of  yesterday,  and  there  is  a  good  deal  of 
it  left  now.  The  wind  is  north-east,  and  the  sky  is 
completely  covered  with  cumulus  and  nimbus  clouds. 
Saturday  afternoon  I  attended  a  public  rehearsal  of 
the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  and  I  enjoyed  it  very 
much.  We  had  a  very  nice  time  out  at  recess  to-day, 
and  on  our  return  we  bad  a  very  interesting  lesson 
on  a  gem  called  Zircon. 

"  This  is  a  very  beautiful  gem  and  the  most  expen- 
sive mineral  we  have  ever  studied.  When  not  crystal- 
lized, it  is  called  zirconite.  It  crystallizes  in  crystals 
that  resemble  those  of  quartz  very  much,  only  the 
crystals  of  quartz  have  six  sides  and  eighteen  faces 
in   all,  while   those   of    zircon    have    only  four   with 


OF    EDUCATION  79 

twelve  faces.  The  ends  of  the  pyramids  are  very 
sharp.  Zircon  is  the  hardest  mineral  we  have  ever 
studied,  its  degree  of  hardness  being  between  seven 
and  eight.  My  specimens  are  about  seven  and  three- 
quarters.  All  sides  of  crystals  are  very  shiny  and 
smooth.  They  are  prisms  with  a  pyramid  at  each 
end,  if  the  crystals  are  perfect. 

"The  color  of  zircon  is  a  light  chocolate  brown, 
but  sometimes  it  is  white  and  reddish  colored.  It  is 
spotted  light  and  dark  brown  in  some  places.  It  is 
composed  of  zirconium,  oxygen,  and  silicon.  In  one 
hundred  grains  of  zircon,  there  are  forty-nine  grains 
of  zirconium,  thirty-five  of  oxygen,  and  sixteen  of 
silicon.  Zirconium  is  a  very  beautiful  metal  resem- 
bling silver  in  color,  and  is  five  times  as  valuable  as 
gold,  being  worth  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  pound. 
There  has  as  yet  been  no  use  put  to  it,  but  sometime 
it  may  be  very  useful.  Oxygen  is  a  very  useful  gas, 
as  it  keeps  all  animals  alive,  and  is  in  a  great  many 
minerals,  in  all  shells  and  limestone,  and  a  great 
many  other  things.  Silicon  is  not  a  metal,  but  it  is 
in  a  great  many  different  minerals.  It  is  very  rare, 
and  difficult  to  extract  from  the  rocks.  Zircon  is 
used  in  jewelry,  being  sometimes  passed  off  for  dia- 
monds when  of  a  white  color.  When  it  is  of  a  reddish 
color,  it  is  called  hyacinth. 

' '  Zircon  is  found  in  the  iVdirondack  Mountains  in 


80  THE    NEW   METHOD 

New  York  State,  the  Blue  Ridge,  running  through 
the  western  part  of  North  Carolina,  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains, that  form  a  part  of  the  boundary  line  between 
Europe  and  Asia,  the  Altai  Mountains,  near  the 
central  part  of  Asia,  and  Adam's  Peak,  one  of  the 
Ceylon  Mountains  in  Ceylon.  The  market-places  for 
zircon  are  at  Albany,  the  capital  of  New  York  State, 
Raleigh,  the  capital  of  North  Carolina,  St.  Peters- 
burg, the  capital  of  Russia,  and  Colombo,  the  capital 
of  Ceylon." 

Birds. 

"It  is  very  warm  and  pleasant  today,  and  every- 
thing seems  fresher  for  the  recent  rain.  The  sky  is 
of  a  very  delicate  shade  of  blue,  and  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  stratus  and  cumulus  clouds  which  look  very 
beautiful  mixed  with  the  blue.  The  air  near  us 
seems  clear,  but  if  we  look  off  for  some  distance  it 
seems  hazy.  There  is  a  gentle  south-west  wind 
blowing  at  the  rate  of  about  five  or  six  miles  an  hour. 
The  trees  are  beginning  to  have  large  buds,  and  I 
think  they  will  soon  show  blossom. 

"We  have  had  our  first  lesson  on  birds  for  this 
year,  and  the  subject  today  was  the  Night  Heron. 
It  is  a  very  interesting  as  well  as  beautiful  bird,  and 
is  called  by  that  name  because  it  travels  only  in  the 
night.  It  is  about  sixteen  inches  high,  and  eighteen 
inches  long.     The  back  is  of  a  rich  black  color  with 


OF    EDUCATION  8 1 

a  green  gloss.  The  wings  are  of  a  delicate  gray 
color,  and  the  throat  and  neck  are  white,  also  the 
breast.  The  crest  is  of  the  same  color  as  the  back, 
and  there  is  a  streak  of  black  running  from  the  crest 
across  the  neck  to  the  back.  There  is  a  plume  con- 
sisting of  three  small  ones  twisted  together,  reaching 
from  the  crest  to  the  back.  The  bill  is  black,  and 
the  upper  mandible  projects  out  a  little  farther  than 
the  lower.  The  upper  mandible  curves  downward, 
and  the  point  is  very  sharp.  The  tail  is  rather  short, 
and  is  made  up  of  twelve  white  feathers.  The  legs 
are  covered  with  feathers  down  to  the  first  joint,  and 
they  are  quite  large.  The  feet  are  made  up  of  four 
claws,  three  at  the  front  and  one  at  the  back. 

"  The  Night  Heron  feeds  upon  the  frogs,  lizards, 
insects,  fishes,  and  mice,  which  he  swallows  whole. 
There  are  four  eggs,  and  they  are  of  a  delicate  sea- 
green  color,  and  are  about  two  inches  long  and  one 
and  one-half  in  thickness.  They  are  found  at  or 
near  the  mouths  of  the  Colorado,  Brazos,  Trinity, 
and  Sabine  rivers  in  Texas,  the  Mississippi  and 
Pearl  rivers  in  Louisiana,  the  Appalachicola  and  St. 
Johns  rivers  in  Florida,  the  Mobile  River  in  Ala- 
bama, and  all  the  southern  rivers  up  as  far  as  the 
Roanoke  River,  in  North  Carolina.  These  are  their 
winter  homes,  but  in  summer  they  go  as  far  north  as 
the  Penobscot  River  in  Maine,  and  no  farther.  They 
live  in  the  marshes  and  all  wet  places." 


GRADE  VIII. 

The  Juglans  Nigra. 

"  The  Juglans  nigra,  or  common  black  walnut,  is 
a  very  beautiful  tree,  the  largest  growing  as  high 
as  ninety  feet  and  five  feet  thick.  There  are  two 
kinds  of  walnut  growing  in  Massachusetts  and  only 
about  six  in  the  world.  The  black  walnut  grows 
in  Massachusetts  about  one  hundred  miles  from  Bos- 
ton, but  grows  best  in  Ohio,  along  the  banks  on  both 
sides  of  the  Ohio  river.  It  also  grows  on  the  banks 
of  the  Alleghaney  and  Monongahela  rivers.  It 
grows  as  far  north  as  Massachusetts,  and  west  of  the 
Alleghaney  mountains  it  grows  a  little  farther  north, 
about  forty-four  degrees  north  latitude.  On  the 
numerous  islands  of  the  Ohio  river  they  are  found 
very  plentifully,  fully  as  well  as  anywhere  in  the 
country.  It  does  not  grow  farther  west  than  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  is  not  found  anywhere  in  the  old  world. 

"The  bark  is  of  a  light  gray  color  and  the  layers 
can  be  seen  very  plainly.  The  inner  bark  is  of  a 
dark  brown  color  and  quite  fibrous. 

"The  wood,  when  green,  is  of  a  light  color,  near 
the  bark,  but  near  the  pith  it  is  very  dark  brown. 
When  the  tree  grows  older  the  wood  turns  darker, 
and  when  the  wood  is  dried  it  turns  to  a  dark  brown 


THE    NEW    METHOD    OF    EDUCATION  83 

color.  The  rays  are  very  fine  indeed,  and  also  the 
ducts.  The  wood  is  rather  heavy  and  tough.  It  is 
used  for  various  purposes,  such  as  bureaus,  ward- 
robes, brackets,  book-cases,  chairs,  tables,  gun-stocks, 
and  picture  frames.  In  that  part  of  the  country 
where  the  walnut  trees  flourish,  the  wood  is  some- 
times used  for  fences,  as  it  will  last  a  great  while. 

"  The  black  walnut  tree  has  a  compound  leaf,  with 
a  variable  number  of  leaflets.  The  leaflets  are  of  a 
pointed  ovate  shape,  and.  are  net-veined  and  feather- 
veined.  The  margin  is  serrate  and  the  veins  show 
very  plainly.  The  mid-vein  is  very  nearly  round, 
and  is  of  a  dark  brown  color  with  tiny  white  hairs. 
The  leaflets  are  opposite  on  the  mid-vein.  The  leaf 
is  generally  about  one  foot  long,  sometimes  more. 
The  petiole  is  about  four  inches  long,  but  the  petioles 
of  the  leaflets  are  very  short  indeed.  The  leaflets 
are  about  two  or  three  inches  long  and  are  lighter  on 
the  under  side  than  on  the  upper.  One  reason  why 
the  black  walnut  tree  is  so  graceful  is  because  the 
leaves  are  so  long  and  have  so  many  leaflets.  When 
the  leaves  are  full  of  sap  they  are  quite  fragrant.  In 
the  autumn  the  leaves  turn  to  a  yellowish  color. 

"  The  walnut  is  very  large  and  very  nearly  round. 
The  epicarp,  or  outer  shell,  is  quite  thick  and  hard, 
and  is  rough  and  pebbly.  When  the  nut  is  on  the 
tree  the  epicarp  is  green,  but  when  dry  it  is  of  a  light 


84  THE    NEW    METHOD 

and  dark  brown  color.  The  endocarp,  or  inner  shell, 
is  very  hard  and  bony,  and  the  nut  resembles  the 
hickory  nut.  The  name  that  is  commonly  given  to 
the  hickory  nut  is  walnut,  but  that  is  not  correct. 
The  hickory  nut  is  much  smaller  than  the  walnut. 
The  walnut  is  about  two  inches  in  diameter,  and  four 
or  five  inches  round  it  every  way.     It  is  quite  heavy." 

The  Oxide  of  Aluminum. 

"  This  is  a  beautiful  day,,  warm  and  sunny.  There 
are  a  very  few  stratus  and  cumulus  clouds  in  different 
parts  of  the  sky,  and  they  look  like  banks  of  snow. 
The  sky  is  of  a  delicate  shade  of  blue,  and  there  is 
quite  a  rough  wind  blowing,  making  it  very  dusty. 
There  has  been  no  rain  for  more  than  a  week.  The 
grass  is  quite  green,  and  the  crocuses  look  very  pretty 
mixed  with  it.  There  have  been  a  few  may  flowers 
brought  in  from  the  country  for  sale,  but  they  are  not 
plenty  as  yet.  The  robins  have  been  here  for  about 
a  week.  I  attended  a  very  beautiful  concert  last 
Friday  afternoon,  which  I  enjoyed  very  much.  We 
studied  a  mineral  to-day  called  ruby  sapphire. 

"This  is  a  very  beautiful  and  interesting  gem, 
commonly  called  ruby.  A  ruby  from  five  carats  (or 
twenty  grains)  upward  is  worth  more  than  a  diamond 
of  the  same  size,  but  small  diamonds  are  worth  more 
than  small  rubies.     The  degree  of  hardness  of  ruby 


OF    EDUCATION  85 

is  nine,  the  hardest  mineral  we  have  ever  studied. 
It  is  of  a  beautiful  pink  color  of  different  shades,  the 
larger  ones  being  of  a  deeper  color  than  the  smaller 
ones. 

"  Ruby  sapphire  is  composed  of  oxygen,  aluminum 
and  chromium.  In  one  hundred  grains  of  ruby  there 
are  fifty-three  grains  of  aluminum,  forty-six  and  one- 
half  of  oxygen,  and  one-half  a  grain  of  chromium, 
which  gives  it  the  color.  All  the  varieties  of  sapphire 
have  the  same  composition,  and  are  all  colored  with 
chromium,  giving  sometimes  a  green  color,  then 
called  emerald  sapphire,  sometimes  a  yellow  color, 
then  called  topaz  sapphire,  sometimes  of  a  blue  color, 
the  sapphire  itself,  and  sometimes  of  a  purple  or 
violet  color,  called  amethyst  sapphire.  The  emerald 
sapphire  is  so  rare  that  it  is  rarely  seen,  but  still  it  is 
not  so  expensive  as  the  ruby  sapphire,  the  most  ex- 
pensive of  all  the  varieties.  It  crystallizes  in  rhom- 
bohedrons,  variously  modified.  The  difference  in 
color  in  the  different  varieties  of  sapphire  is  accord- 
ing to  the  quantity  of  chromium.  Aluminum  is  a 
very  beautiful  silvery  metal,  very  light,  and  easily 
bent.  If  we  should  burn  it  in  oxygen,  which. is  very 
difficult  to  do,  the  ashes,  or  remaining  portion,  would 
be  the  same  substance  as  ruby  sapphire.  Oxygen  is 
a  very  useful  invisible  gas,  which  sustains  fire,  keeps 
all  animals  alive,  and   is  in   a  great  many  different 


86  THE    NEW    METHOD 

kinds  of  minerals  and  in  all  shells.  It  is  colorless, 
tasteless,  and  odorless.  Chromium  is  the  coloring 
element  in  a  great  many  minerals.  Ruby  sapphire  is 
used  for  various  articles  of  jewelry,  and,  when  set,  is 
very  beautiful. 

"  Ruby  sapphire  is  found  on  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains in  the  western  part  of  North  Carolina  ;   on  the 
Himalaya  Mountains,  the  highest  in  the  world,  in  the 
northern  part  of  Hindostan  and  Indo-China,  which  is 
where   my  specimens  came  from,  and  where  all  the 
finest  specimens  are  found.     It  is  also  found  on  the 
Auvergne  and  Cevennes   Mountains  in  France,  the 
Carpathian  Mountains  in  the  central  part  of  Austria, 
and  the  Ural  Mountains  on  the  boundary  line  between 
Europe  and  Asia,  though  rubies  are  mostly  found  on 
the    Asiatic    side.      They    are    often    called    oriental 
rubies,  from  their  being  found  mostly  in  India.     The 
ruby  mines  are  owned  by  the  government,  and  a  large 
reward  is  often  paid  to  those  who  find  the  valuable 
ones.     When  an  exceptionally  large  one  is  found,  the 
King  has  a  great  celebration  and  procession,  and  the 
men  of  high  rank  ride  on  elephants.     The   market- 
places ior  ruby  are  at  Bankok,  the  capital  of  Indo- 
China,  a  very  large  city  ;   Paris,  the  capital  of  France, 
on  the  River  Seine,  a  very  beautiful  city  ;   Lyons,  in 
the  central  or  southern  part  of  France  ;   Dresden,  on 
the  River  Elbe,  also  a  beautiful  city  ;   Moscow,  in  the 


OF    EDUCATION  87 

central  part  of  Russia,  distinguished  for  the  largest 
bell  in  the  world  which  is  rung,  weighing  fifty-nine 
tons.  There  is  one  weighing  two  hundred  and  fifty 
tons,  which  is  never  rung.  Also  Raleigh,  the  capital 
of  North  Carolina,  and  Trenton,  the  capital  of  New 
Jersey." 


PART    III 

SCHOOL  REPORTS 


SCHOOL  REPORTS,  SECTION  I 


Since  in  my  attempt  at  the  District  School  Meet- 
ing to  make  a  report  of  the  condition  of  the  High 
School,  together  with  a  brief  reply  to  several  unrea- 
sonable attacks  and  malicious  charges  against  me,  I 
was  frequently  interrupted  and  compelled  to  withdraw 
in  the  midst  of  my  remarks,  I  therefore  respectfully 
submit  to  the  legal  voters  of  District  No.  i,  the  follow- 
ing report,  omitting  the  greater  part  of  that  portion 
which  I  succeeded,  under  many  difficulties,  in  giving 
verbally. 

I  will  first  reply  to  some  of  the  numerous  errors  in 
the  statements  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  in 
his  report.  On  the  second  page  of  that  document  I 
find  the  following  : 


All  teachers  in  this  town  have  been  furnished  with  regis- 
ters, and  all,  with  one  exception,  have  returned  them.  Your 
committee  have  just  been  informed  that  the  teacher  of  the 
high  school  has  never  returned  a  register  nor  suggested  any 
excuse  for  not  returning  them.  Your  committee  supposed 
until  now  that  they  had  been  duly  returned  to  the  superin- 
tending committee  of  the  town.  We  venture  to  hope  that 
this  useful  law  will  not  be  nullified  hereafter. 


2  THE    NEW    METHOD 

I  beg  leave  to  say  that  in  this  charge  there  is  not 
one  word  of  truth.  I  have  been  furnished  with  only 
one  register  annually,  and  that  has  been  duly  re- 
turned with  all  the  facts  required  by  law.  I  can 
easily  prove  this  by  inserting  a  statement  by  Mr. 
Averill,  who  has  for  many  years  been  the  superin- 
tending committee  of  the  town. 

I  have  annually  sent  to  Mr.  Whittemore  one  school  regis- 
ter with  the  request  that  he  would  furnish  me  with  answers 
to  the  questions  therein  contained,  and  he  has  returned  it, 
promptly,  with  such  answers. 

C.  S.  AvERiiviv, 
Superintending  School  Committee  of  Milford. 

Instead  of  neglecting  my  duty  in  this  respect,  I 
have  done  more  than  the  law  requires.  I  have,  each 
term,  at  my  own  expense,  published  one  hundred  and 
fifty  copies  of  the  statistics  required  by  law,  together 
with  many  other  facts  of  interest,  and  have  furnished 
both  the  committee  and  each  scholar  with  a  copy,  so 
that  every  family  that  had  a  child  in  school  might 
have  a  complete  record  of  every  term. 

If  any  one  has  neglected  his  duty  or  failed  to 
understand  it,  the  chairman  of  the  committee  is  the 
man.  It  was  his  duty  to  furnish  the  teachers  of 
District  No.  i  with  registers  sufficient  to  record  the 
name  of  every  scholar.  This  would  require  two  in 
the   high  school   each   term,   but   he  has  never  fur- 


►  OF    EDUCATION  3 

nished  one.  There  is  no  law  that  requires  a  teacher 
to  fill  registers  which  the  committee  have  never  fur- 
nished. May  we  not  venture  to  express  a  hope  that 
our  committee  may  hereafter  have  a  chairman  that 
will  both  know  and  do  his  duty  ? 

On  the  third  page  of  Mr.  Wadleigh's  report  the 
following  statement  may  be  found  : 

As  to  the  "model  classes  "  of  small  children  in  the  high 
school — it  may  be  proper  to  state  that  your  committee  ob- 
jected in  the  beginning  to  the  formation  of  such  classes,  on 
the  ground  that,  however  desirable  they  might  be  in  some 
respects,  they  would  injure  the  cause  of  education  by  creat- 
ing jealously  and  discord  in  the  district.  They  finally 
yielded,  however,  to  the  wishes  of  the  principal  and  con- 
sented to  the  establishment  of  one  class  with  eight  members. 
Now  there  are  in  the  high  school  three  classes  containing 
twenty-four  members.  The  main  argument  used  by  the 
principal  in  their  favor  was,  that  they  were  necessary  to 
carry  out  a  grand  experiment  which  he  was  making  here, 
which  would  result  in  establishing  a  new  method  of  teaching, 
called  by  him  the  "normal"  method,  and  in  supplanting 
and  overthrowing  all  other  existing  systems  of  education. 

As  to  the  weight  of  this  argument,  your  committee  will 
give  no  opinion. 

It  may  be  well  for  our  committee  to  suspend  the 
expression  of  their  opinion,  at  least  until  they  have 
seen  our  classes  work  for  an  hour  or  so,  and  it  may 
not  be  necessary  for  them  to  say  a  word  about  it  at 
all,  since  an  opinion  has  been  expressed  so  frequently 
on  this  point  by  such  men  as  Pestalozzi,  Mayo  and 


4  THE    NEW    METHOD 

Herbert  Spencer  in  Europe,  and  Agassiz,  Russell, 
Colburn,  Calkins,  Sheldon  and  other  educators  in 
America. 

These  distinguished  men,  as  well  as  many  others, 
have  spent  their  lives  in  introducing  throughout 
Europe  and  America  the  principles  of  educational 
science  and  reform  which  I  have,  with  such  ability 
as  was  given  me,  humbly  sought  for  the  last  twelve 
years  to  inculcate  in  the  minds  of  the  young  people 
of  Milford.  It  may  not  be  improper  to  state  here 
that  my  education  was  directed  by  several  of  the 
above  named  men,  at  normal  schools  and  colleges, 
for  some  years  before  I  came  to  Milford,  and  that  I 
was  appointed  by  them  to  do  the  work  somewhere, 
that  I  have  been  doing  in  Milford. 

Society  has  nowhere  recognized  progress  as  a  pri- 
mary principle  of  natural  law.  Kings  still  strive  to 
reconcile  their  subjects  to  effete  systems  of  govern- 
ment. Obedience  to  old  forms  is  held  forth  as  a 
virtue.  Like  natural  organisms,  every  human  device 
must  have  a  growth  ;  it  cannot  be  born  perfect.  The 
more  complicated  it  is,  the  slower  its  growth  must  be. 

But  there  are  those  in  every  community  who 
imagine  the  "Ark  of  Truth"  to  be  endangered 
whenever  any  change  is  made  in  the  management  of 
any  branch  of  human  interests.  Opposition  is  awak- 
ened, as  if  truth  could  be  overthrown  by  error.     They 


OF    EDUCATION  5 

think  that  everything  is  about  to  be  lost  when  all  is 
to  be  gained. 

Is  not  the  knowledge  of  truth  progressive  ?  Is 
there  not  a  principle  within  us  which,  when  once 
awakened,  craves  for  progress  and  cannot  be  satisfied 
without  it  ?  However  great  our  progress,  this  urges 
us  on  to  still  greater  achievements,  and  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  our  methods  of  carrying  on 
human  industries  will  ever  cease  to  be  superseded  or 
improved.  There  can  be  no  end  to  discoveries  in 
nature,  for  the  great  Architect  conceals  nothing. 
Upon  every  natural  object  is  written,  by  the  Creator, 
its  history  and  its  use.  We  may  not  always  read 
aright,  for  we  live  in  the  infancy  of  systematic  in- 
quiry. We  are  not  satisfied  with  things  as  they  were 
thirty  year  ago.  At  that  time  only  the  favored  few 
could,  for  instance,  possess  the  likeness  of  his  nearest 
friend,  and  that  was  made  by  the  devious  hand  of 
man.  Behold  the  change!  One  of  nature's  forces  now 
does  the  work.  That  agent  which  darts  forth  from 
world  to  world  throughout  immensity  and,  com- 
manded by  Omnipotence,  lights  up  the  universe, 
marshals  the  elements  into  forms  of  utility  and  beauty, 
and  covers  the  hills  and  plains  with  waving  grasses 
and  flowers  of  every  hue.  Under  the  directing  hand 
of  the  modern  artist  the  agent  that  paints  the  rainbow 
paints  alike  the  pictures  of  friends  and  of   scenery, 


6  THE    NEW    METHOD 

and  adorns  and  enlivens  our  homes,  almost  gratui- 
tously, with  the  lineaments  of  a  hundred  familiar 
faces.  Another  force  is  caught  by  the  hand  of  science, 
and  bid  to  carry  intelligence,  swifter  than  light,  from 
continent  to  continent.  Another  is  made  subservient 
by  propelling  our  vehicles  rapidly  over  every  land 
and  every  sea.  So  it  is  in  all  the  arts  and  all  the 
sciences  which  give  rise  to  art.  We  must  extend  the 
knowledge  of  our  predecessors  and  correct  their 
errors.  Our  errors  will  be  corrected  by  our  succes- 
sors, and  theirs  by  those  who  succeed  them. 

In  regard  to  the  "  grand  experiment,  "  I  will  here 
state  that  I  have  never  used  the  word  experiment  in 
speaking  of  the  model  classes.  The  experimenting 
was  all  done  years  ago.  Moreover,  there  has  never 
been  much  experimenting  connected  with  the  normal 
system,  for  its  principles  are  founded  in  the  laws  of 
nature,  and  we  have  only  to  discover  them  as  they 
exist  and  always  have  existed  there.  Are  not  the 
spontaneous  processes  of  mental  evolution,  as  we  pass 
on  from  early  childhood  to  age,  regulated  by  the  im- 
mutable laws  of  nature,  as  well  as  the  growth  of  a 
plant,  or  the  revolutions  of  the  planets?  Give  the 
child  lard  instead  of  bread  and  alcohol  instead  of  milk 
and  his  body  becomes  diseased  and  soon  dies,  because 
its  treatment  is  abnormal.  So  it  is  with  the  mind.  If 
its   treatment  should    be    altogether  abnormal   those 


OF   EDUCATION  7 

embryo  germs  which  are  susceptible  of  infinite  ex- 
pansion could  never  be  developed.  Give  the  child  a 
mixture,  half  milk  and  half  alcohol,  and  let  its  mental 
food  also,  be  in  part  normal  and  in  part  abnormal 
and  the  result  is  just  that  condition  of  the  human  race 
that  now  exists  about  us  and  all  over  the  world.  It 
can  scarcely  be  said  that  one  person  in  a  score  makes 
a  success  of  life.  In  directing  the  child's  education 
no  one  can  determine  in  every  particular  just  what 
is  the  right  course.  But  if  we  make  use  of  the 
knowledge  of  our  predecessors  and  our  contempo- 
raries over  the  world,  may  we  not  make  some  approxi- 
mations toward  a  perfect  scheme  ?  The  knowledge 
possessed  by  those  who  have  systematically  studied 
this  subject  for  many  years  is  sometimes  called  the 
science  of  education,  and  those  who  apply  the  prin- 
ciples of  that  science  in  teaching  are  said  to  teach 
normally.  It  has  no  reference  necessarily  to  making 
teachers  ;  that  is  only  one  of  the  results.  All  teaching 
is  either  normal  or  abnormal,  that  is,  it  is  in  harmony 

with  the  natural  laws  of  mental  evolution,   or  else  it 
violates  those  laws. 

The  study  of  the  objects,  facts  and  phenomena  of  nature  is 
the  normal,  and  therefore  the  most  congenial  employment 
of  the  opening  mind,  and  one  of  its  purest  sources  of  pleas- 
ure. Without  such  study,  the  mind  becomes  vague  and 
abstracted  in  its  tendencies  and  habits,  life  lacks  reality, 
character  solidity,  and  faith  a  foundation.     The  misdirected 


8  THE    NEW    METHOD 

culture  which  commences  "with  the  study  of  language,  thence 
proceeds  to  gather  thoughts,  and  at  last  reaches  objects  only 
to  hurry  over  and  slight  them  leaves  the  mind  wanting  in 
the  vital  elements  of  truth. — Russell. 

The  natural  inquisitiveness  of  the  child's  mind, 
every  one  must  have  observed.  How  early  he  begins 
to  investigate  the  objects  about  him,  asking  number- 
less questions.  But  how  few  of  those  whose  work  it 
is  to  rear  and  foster  the  young  mind,  heed  the 
promptings  of  nature  How  often  is  the  great  book 
of  nature  sealed  to  the  little  inquirer,  and  his  atten- 
tion turned  to  objects  of  less  interest.  And  how  few 
there  are  who  retain  to  mature  years  the  innate 
desires  for  knowledge  which  were  so  apparent  in 
early  childhood.  How  many  there  are  whose  minds 
become  perverted,  benumbed,  and  degraded  by  mis- 
management, all  desire  for  knowledge  obliterated,  all 
taste  for  the  pleasures  of  a  rational  life  utterly  de- 
stroyed. Yet  their  young  minds  were  fitted  by  their 
Creator  to  study  his  visible  works  and  rise  higher 
and  higher  in  the  scale  of  being,  until  they  could 
read  in  the  stars  that  nightly  shine  above  their  heads, 
in  the  rocks  beneath  their  feet,  and  in  the  plants  and 
flowers  that  deck  their  way,  the  thoughts  impressed 
upon  them  by  the  Great  Author  of  all. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  upon  the  system  adopted 
in  the  high  school,  of  entrusting  the  hearing  of  the  recita- 


OF    EDUCATION  9 

tions  of  their  own  classes  to  female  pupils,  while  the  teacher 
sits  by  as  an  observer  or  engaged  in  reading. 

To  such  a  puerile  slur  as  this  I  consider  it  un- 
necessary to  make  any  formal  reply.  The  design  of 
the  writer  is  everywhere  obvious.  But  he  sets  the 
matter  right  in  the  next  sentence  and  nullifies  his  own 
objection. 

Upon  careful  consideration  your  committee  regard  this 
method  of  teaching  as  an  advantage  to  the  young  ladies  who 
act  as  teachers,  but  as  injurious  to  all  who  do  not.  It  is 
beneficial  to  those  who  least  need  assistance  and  injurious  to 
those  who  most  need  it. 

Then  it  is  clearly  an  advantage  to  every  one  in  the 
senior  class,  and  every  one  in  the  junior  class,  for  all 
alike  have  stood  before  the  class  to  conduct  the  exer- 
cises, one  just  as  often  as  another.  The  recitation  is 
never  wholly  entrusted  to  the  pupils,  but  only  so 
much  of  it  as  I  have  deemed  advantageous  to  them. 
During  that  part  of  the  recitation  conducted  by  the 
pupils,  I  have  endeavored  to  have  the  class  feel  that 
the  whole  responsibility  rested  on  them.  This  form 
of  recitation  is  for  the  purpose  of  inculcating  self- 
possession,  self-reliance,  dignity,  easy  manners  and 
thorough  scholarship.  The  pupil  questions  the  class 
upon  the  lesson  without  the  book,  that  is,  asks  orig- 
inal questions.  This  makes  the  best  possible  test  of 
a  good  lesson  on  the  part  of  the  questioner.     It  also 


IO  THE    NEW    METHOD 

impresses  upon  the  mind  of  the  questioner  every  fact 
upon  which  he  interrogates  the  class,  and  thus  tends 
directly  to  make  thorough  scholars.  Whenever  the 
class  fails  to  penetrate  and  develop  a  principle  in  the 
lesson,  I  am  always  present  to  do  such  work  as  they 
fail  to  do.  A  principle  of  educational  science  is  in- 
volved in  this  method.  It  is  well  expressed  by 
Thomas  Eubank,  in  the  following  lines  : 

No  fact  is  more  prominent,  in  the  economy  of  the  world 
than  that  man  was  to  have  nothing — absolutely  nothing — 
done  for  him  which  he  could  possibly  do  for  himself.  This 
was  essential  to  the  development  of  his  character.  Had  it 
been  otherwise,  metals  had  been  dug  up  in  the  forms  of  use- 
ful instruments,  and  articles  of  furniture  had  been  the  nat- 
ural fruit  of  trees.  Vegetable  fibre  had  grown  in  hanks  of 
thread  and  in  woven  garments,  glass  and  stone  ware  had 
been  quarried,  and  articles  of  furniture  had  been  the  natural 
fruit  of  trees.  All  substances  would  have  been  found  in  the 
most  useful  form. 

To  speak  of  a  want  of  interest  in  the  class  when 
this  method  is  pursued,  is  extreme  folly,  and  is  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  testimony  of  every  candid  ob- 
server of  our  recitations.  I  have  been  unable,  as 
yet,  to  practice  this  method  completely  in  the  lowest 
class  as  that  class  has  been  the  receptacle  of  scholars 
coming  every  term  from  schools  in  which  they  have 
had  no  normal  training.  The  model  classes  are  fully 
under  way  in  this  method,  and  the  only  part  of  the 
school  which  does  not  please  the  committee  is  that 


OF    EDUCATION  II 

very  part  which  I  have  been  unable  to  bring  under 
the  normal  plan. 

The  principal  of  the  high  school  has,  for  years,  assumed 
the  right  to  admit  into  and  exclude  from  the  high  school 
such  scholars  as  he  chose,  and  rather  than  bring  on  a  con- 
flict with  him,  such  as  is  now  agitating  the  district,  commit- 
tees have  abdicated  their  legal  duties. 

I  have  always  understood  perfectly  the  duty  of  the 
committee  in  regard  to  transferring  scholars  from  one 
school  to  another,  and  have  never  assumed  the  right 
to  admit  into  or  exclude  from  the  high  school  any 
scholar  and  never  have  transferred  a  scholar  without 
the  direction  or  consent  of  the  committee.  The  com- 
mittee have  sometimes  desired  me  to  do  it,  but  I 
have  refused  to  take  the  responsibility. 

Your  committee  then  sent  to  him,  a  request  in  writing,  to 
admit  those  five  scholars.  He  admitted  four  of  the  five  and 
one  other  whom  he  was  not  directed  to  admit,  but  excluded 
one  of  the  five — Janies  Hanrihan — whom  your  committee 
deemed  particularly  worthy  of  admission.  Upon  applica- 
tion to  him  to  state  the  reason  why  Hanrihan  was  not  ad- 
mitted, he  said  he  had  no  seat  for  him. 

In  this  paragraph,  and  all  that  follows  to  the  end 
of  the  committee's  report,  nearly  every  sentence  is  full 
of  error.  It  is  strange  that  a  man  can  warp  the  truth 
so  constantly.     I  will  insert  verbatim  the  first  order 

from  the  committee. 


12  THE    NEW    METHOD 

Milford,  N.  H.,  Sept.  4th,  1866. 

WniviAM  L.  WhitTEmork,  Esq_. — Dear  Sir  :  Please  admit 
to  the  high  school  the  following  scholars  from  the  grammar 
or  intermediate  school  the  present  term  :  James  Hanrihan, 
Arthur  Towns,  William  French,  Bell  Mills,  Kate  Mills, 
William  Tarbell. 

Signed,  B.  Wadleigh,  S.  Smith  Stickney, 

W.  H.  W.  Hinds,  T.  Kaley. 

I  had  at  that  time  about  one  hundred  scholars, 
which  is  considered  in  most  other  places  as  many  as 
can  be  properly  taught  by  three  or  four  teachers. 
The  high  school  was  larger  than  it  had  ever  been  be- 
fore, while  the  grammar  school  was  not  nearly  as 
large  as  it  had  sometimes  been,  and  it  was  well  class- 
ified. If  scholars  were  promoted  a  new  class  must 
be  formed,  which  would  make  it  exceedingly  incon- 
venient to  carry  on  the  work  in  the  high  school. 
Moreover,  there  were  at  that  time  only  four  unoccu- 
pied seats  in  the  high  school,  one  on  the  girls'  side 
and  three  on  the  boys'  side  of  the  room ;  so  I  con- 
cluded to  do  the  best  I  could  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  accordingly  admitted  the  three  oldest 
boys  and  the  older  of  the  two  girls,  but  the  girl  de- 
clined coming  in  as  her  sister  could  not  come  with 
her.  There  was  plainly  no  seat  for  the  youngest  boy 
unless  I  put  him  with  the  girls.  The  talk  of  his  be- 
ing refused  admission  because  he  was  an  Irish  boy  is 
a    malicious    falsehood.     I  never  thought  of  such  a 


OF    EDUCATION  13 

thing.     I  had   previously  inquired    of  the  chairman 

what  I  should  do  when  the  seats  were  all  taken.     He 

said  "  close  the  doors  of  course  ";  and  I  simply  carried 

out  the  order.     I  could  not  see  why  a  class  in  the 

grammar  school  should  be  divided   and  the  poorest 

scholars  sent  to  the  high  school  and  put  to  work  in 

higher  books,    while  the  best  ones  were  retained  in 

the  grammar  school  and  put  into  lower  books.     But 

that  is  just  what  was  done,  and  I  have  the  means  of 

proof.     When,   as  a  citizen,  interested  in  the  rights 

of  the  scholars  in  both  schools,  I  raised  a  question  or 

two  about  it,  I  was  told  that  I  had  "  nothing  to  do 
about  it ;"  that  I  was  "  paid  for  my  services,  "  and  I 

"  need  not  be  so  conscientious  about  it.  "  They 
took  it  for  granted  that  I  was  a  hireling.  I  have  never 
acknowledged  myself  a  hireling  in  educational  mat- 
ters, although  the  attempt  has  often  been  made  to 
compel  me  to  act  like  one,  and  to  give  up  all  sense  of 
right,  in  order  to  please  A,  B,  and  C.  Here  is  where 
the  difficulty  all  comes  in.  The  three  or  four  men 
who  have  been  so  busy  during  the  past  few  weeks, 
never  tell  their  real  objection,  but  go  about  with 
falsehood  on  their  lips,  telling  what  "they  say." 
These  men  have  acted  the  part  of  ' '  coward  calumny  ' ' 
that  always  ' '  stabs  in  the  dark.  "  The  only  man  who 
has  had  the  fairness  to  state  his  grievance  publicly, 
for  the  last  ten  years,  is  Mr.  Xenophon  Mills.     He 


14  THE   NEW   METHOD 

acted  the  part  of  a  gentleman  and  I  honor  him  for  the 
manly  act. 

For  the  reason  that  the  public  money  can  be  used 
to  publish  only  falsehood  "for  the  use  of  the  dis- 
trict, "  and  also  because  I  do  not  wish  to  put  in  print 
any  more  records  of  the  proceedings  of  the  last  few 
months  than  is  really  necessary,  I  suspend  publish- 
ing, for  the  present  at  least,  several  pages  of  manu- 
script relating  to  the  disgraceful  proceedings  of  last 
September.  I  will  simply  say  that  I  did  protest 
earnestly,  as  a  teacher  and  a  citizen,  against  a  course 
which  so  completely  ignored  the  sacred  rights  of 
others.  I  did  not  refuse  to  comply  with  any  legal 
order  of  the  committee,  until  I  was  ready  to  resign 
the  charge  of  the  school.  The  chairman,  through 
that  whole  disgraceful  affair,  seemed  to  have  only 
one  idea  in  his  mind,  and  was  willing  to  sacrifice  the 
rights  of  a  hundred  families  in  order  to  please  a  woman 
who  comes  with  unreasonable  demands,  accompanied 
with  a  threat.  I  was  reminded  through  the  whole 
affair  of  a  man  who  lived  some  centuries  ago,  named 
Herod.* 

He  was  asked  to  admit  but  five  and  admitted  five  with- 
out claiming  any  increase  of  wages.  He  refused  to  admit  one 
who  had  been  transferred  and  did  admit  one  who  had  not 
been  transferred. 


*See  Matt.  14:  1 — 12. 


OF    EDUCATION  15 

I  will  correct  the  error  in  these  two  sentences.  I 
was  ordered,  as  I  have  shown  above,  to  admit  six. 
I  Hid  not  admit  one  without  claiming  an  increase  of 
wages.  I  refused  to  admit  two  of  the  six  because 
there  were  no  seats  for  them,  and  thereby  followed 
the  direction  of  the  chairman.  I  did  not  admit  one 
who  had  not  been  transferred,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
committee's  first  order. 

I  agreed  with  the  prudential  committee  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  to  teach  one  year  on  conditions, 
and  the  promotion  of  scholars  from  the  grammar 
schools  nullified  the  contract.  I  was  twice  re-engaged 
and  at  an  increase  of  salary  each  time. 

This  is  a  sample  of  the  whole  report,  and  I  now 
assert,  openly  and  definitely,  that  the  whole  document 
is  pregnant  w7ith  falsehood.  And  malicious  as  that 
falsehood  appears,  it  is  very  mild  when  compared  with 
that  which  a  few  other  men  have  carried  about  the 
district  during  the  past  winter,  whispering  it  in  the 
ear  of  every  man  who  was  not  acquainted  with  the 
facts.  Many  of  these  men,  not  knowing  the  facts  of 
course,  were  made  to  believe  what  they  heard  re- 
peated so  often.  I  do  not  censure  them  ;  they  were 
as  ready  to  believe  the  truth  as  falsehood,  if  it  were 
only  told  them.  Such  infamy  should  have  stamped 
upon  it  "the  indelible  stigma  of  the  public  abhor- 
rence."    This  falsehood  called  out  nearly  a  hundred 


1 6  THE    NEW   METHOD 

men  to  break  up  a  school  which  has  cost  the  earnest 
effort  of  one  man,  at  least,  for  twelve  years. 

In  regard  to  the  members  of  the  board  whose 
names  are  found  on  Mr.  Wadleigh's  report,  I  would 
say  that  I  feel  somewhat  inclined  to  make  apology 
for  them.  I  think  they  really  meant  no  harm. 
I  suspect  they  didn't  know  much  about  school  mat- 
ters ;  that  they  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  investigate 
the  merits  of  the  document  to  which  they  subscribed, 
any  more  than  they  have  the  merits  of  the  school 
since  the  citizens  of  the  district  honored  them  by 
making  them  supervisors  of  the  highest  interests  of 
their  children.  Let  us  see  how  the  case  stands. 
Three  of  these  men  have  seen  nothing,  as  it  were,  of 
the  school  for  the  past  two  years.  Another  some- 
times come  examination  day.  The  chairman  has  been 
in  school  often  enough,  but  he  always  comes  when  a 
certain  class  of  young  ladies  is  about  to  recite.  He 
has  never  seen  one  half  of  our  classes,  and  probably 
has  not  seen  a  dozen  different  schools  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century.  The  fact  is  these  gentlemen,  in  educa- 
tional matters,  are  forty  years  behind  the  times. 
They  have  not  yet  discovered  that  there  is  anything 
to  be  known  in  school  polit)7,  beyond  what  any  one 
may  know  intuitively.  They  recommend  a  method 
of  teaching  which  was  exploded  among  all  intelligent 
educators  thirty  years  ago. 


OF    EDUCATION  I  7 

Dr.  Hinds  has  seen  more  of  t^e  high  school  than 
any  other  member  of  the  board,  and  has  evidently 
comprehended  the  "  situation." 

Before  closing  I  wish  to  express  my  thanks  to  a 
very  few  of  my  indulgent  neighbors  for  the  great 
kindness  they  showed  me  in  allowing  me  to  say  a  few 
words  at  the  annual  meeting.  I  thank  them  partic- 
ularly, because  they  did  not  interrupt  me  any  oftener. 
That  act  of  courtesy  and  consideration  saved  me,  at 
least,  ten  dollars  that  I  otherwise  must  have  paid  for 
printing  those  facts,  which  some  men  were  evidently 
afraid  to  hear. 

W.  L,.  WHITTEMORE. 

Milford,  March  30,  1867. 


SECTION  II 

To  comprehend  the  laws  of  nature  is  the  grand 
object  of  intellectual  culture.  The  fatal  error  in  the 
educational  schemes  of  all  ages  has  been  the  futile 
attempt  to  ornament  the  mind  without  informing  it. 
Hence  the  world  has  but  just  discovered  even  the 
existence  of  those  laws,  whose  daily  violation  for 
ages  past  has  rendered  a  world  of  surpassing  beauty 
and  perfection  a  great  sepulchre  for  the  premature 
dead,  and  an  abode  of  suffering  for  millions  who 
linger  through  maturer  years.  Of  all  systems  of 
education  that  is  the  best  which  furnishes  the  most 
perfect  guidance  to  complete  living.  A  right  mode 
of  teaching  contravenes  none  of  nature's  tendencies  ; 
but  it  excites  the  activity  of  the  mind  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  which  control  its  spontaneous  develop- 
ment, and  thus  co-operates  with  nature  in  her  plan  of 
unfolding  the  faculties.  There  can  be  no  success  when 
we  contravene  nature's  laws,  whether  we  deal  with 
tangible  objects  or  with  human  minds.  Overlook  her 
laws  in  inanimate  material,  and  the  awful  wreck  of 
life  and  property  in  the  downfall  of  the  Pemberton 
Mills   is    an    example  of   the    penalty.      Ignore    her 


20  THE    NEW    METHOD 

laws  in  the  human  body  or  mind,  and  who  can 
calculate  the  inevitable  result,  as  it  widens  down  the 
ages  ?  Ignorance  of  the  laws  of  life  confers  no 
exemption  from  the  failure  and  suffering  conse- 
quent upon  their  violation.  Nature's  inexorable  and 
unpitying  penalties  are  meant  to  coerce  us  to  the 
study  of  her  works,  when  their  exceeding  beauty 
fails  to  allure  our  attention. 

That  system  which  requires  the  thorough  study  of 
the  science  of  education,  and  seeks  to  determine  what 
each  step  in  the  educational  process  ought  to  be,  by 
a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  human  nature,  is  called 
the  normal  system.  Founded  upon  biological  and 
psychological  science,  educational  philosophy  is,  and 
must  be,  progressive  in  its  development.  Normal 
schools  which  have  thus  far  been  established,  differ 
so  widely  in  their  general  plan  that  they  may  be 
best  considered  under  three  grades.  First,  normal 
schools  with  no  model  classes.  Second,  normal 
schools  with  transient  model  classes  for  the  purpose 
of  illustrating  the  true  mode  of  teaching.  Third, 
normal  schools  with  permanent  model  classes,  trained, 
or  to  be  trained  normally,  through  their  whole  scho- 
lastic course. 

The  first  and  second  grades  include  the  state  nor- 
mal schools.  The  true  function  of  these  schools  is 
to    make    the    establishment    of   still    better   normal 


OF    EDUCATION  21 

schools  a  possibility.  They  may  be  considered  pion- 
eers in  the  great  educational  reform  which  is  slowly 
taking  place.  Our  own  state  should  lose  no  time  in 
establishing  one  good  normal  school.  The  fact  that 
this  has  not  yet  been  done  shows  that  our  people 
need  to  be  aroused  if  not  enlightened  on  the  demands 
of  education.  But  state  normal  schools  can  never 
furnish  the  thousands  of  rural  districts  all  over  our 
land  with  their  graduates.  These  schools  will  be 
taught  generally  by  young  persons  who  will  enter 
the  profession  for  only  a  few  years.  Moreover,  the 
course  of  training  at  the  state  normal  schools  is  in- 
sufficient to  confer  anything  like  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  educational  science  upon  scholars  who  have 
been  trained  in  the  ordinary  way  till  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen or  twenty  years,  before  entering  upon  the 
normal  course. 

The  third  great  step  in  the  development  of  normal 
schools  is  the  founding  of  an  order  of  institutions 
which  shall  train  the  child,  in  accordance  with  na- 
ture's laws,  from  the  day  he  enters  school  till  he 
graduates.  In  villages  of  less  than  ten  thousand  in- 
habitants our  schools,  everywhere,  are  in  a  deplorable 
condition,  and  will  remain  so  until  their  whole  plan  is 
changed.  The  design  of  the  village  normal  school  is 
to  furnish  such  places  with  the  means  of  a  thorough 
and  rational  culture  instead  of  the  jargon  of  the  pres- 


22  THE    NEW   METHOD 

ent  time.  To  reconstruct  our  village  schools  will 
require  a  very  long  time,  for  teachers  to  do  it  are  yet 
to  be  educated. 

Having  had  a  little  experience  in  the  first  and  sec- 
ond grades  of  normal  schools,  and  subsequently  hav- 
ing pursued,  for  years,  the  inductive  study  of  educa- 
tional philosophy,  under  a  well  organized  plan,  it  has 
devolved  upon  me  to  present,  if  I  can,  a  model  of  the 
village  normal  high  school. 

Even  while  the  system  is  but  partially  introduced, 
our  graduates  are  successful  competitors  with  the 
graduates  of  the  best  normal  schools  of  New  Eng- 
land. Of  the  ten  who  have  already  completed  the 
course,  two  are  teaching  in  Boston,  two  in  the  annual 
schools  of  Milford,  and  three  have  taught  in  Amherst 
during  the  past  year. 

From  the  dawn  of  civilization  to  the  present  day, 
the  most  beneficent  schemes  for  human  advance- 
ment have  been  scowled  upon  with  malignant  hat- 
red ;  but  the  obsolete  absurdities  of  former  ages  must 
soon  be  abandoned.  The  progressive  evolution  of 
our  race  goes  on  by  nature's  command,  and  her 
commands  are  never  nullified. 

In  the  prevailing  schemes  of  education,  the  time 
of  teachers  and  scholars  is  given  mostly  to  the  lingual 
and  mathematical  studies,  while  that  transcendent 
order  of  truth  which  alone  can  illuminate  our  way  in 


OF    EDUCATION  23 

the  world,  is  practically  ignored  ;  and  the  recipients 
of  our  boasted  education  must  grope  their  way  in 
darkness,  stumbling  at  every  step  in  a  world  of  light 
and  order,  because  they  are  unable  to  read  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Infinite,  which  he  has  written  in  living 
characters  upon  every  object  and  every  phenomenon 
around  us. 

Language  and  mathematics  are  very  useful 
branches,  but  are  to  be  studied  as  a  means  and  not 
an  end.  They  are  indispensable  at  every  step  in  the 
educational  process,  as  a  means  of  discovering  and 
expressing  real  knowledge  and  when  put  to  their 
legitimate  uses,  they  will  be  learned  most  effectually, 
by  using  them.  The  normal  method  confers  by  far 
the  best  mental  discipline,  as  well  as  the  most  avail- 
able culture  in  language  and  mathematics.  To  these 
it  adds  a  thorough  and  practical  knowledge  of  the 
sciences  of  nature  ;  and  all  for  half  the  cost  of  ordin- 
ary education.  The  reason  is  obvious,  —  science 
directs  in  one  case,  and  the  dictates  of  tradition  and 
empiricism  in  the  other.  Jackson's  battle  at  New 
Orleans  had  not  been  heard  of  in  all  the  States,  thirty 
days  after  it  was  fought.  To-day  thirty  minutes 
would  almost  suffice  to  send  the  intelligence  over  the 
civilized  world.  A  single  application  of  science  has 
wrought  the  marvellous  change  !  And  can  science 
do  nothing  for  education  ?     Are  not  the  human  mind 


24  THE    NEW    METHOD 

and  body  a  part  of  nature's  dominion,  and  subject  to 
lier  laws  ? 

Nature's  ways  are  everywhere  models  of  economy. 
By  one  simple  means  she  accomplishes  a  thousand 
grand  results.  She  lights  and  warms,  irrigates  and 
animates,  and  holds  in  never-ending  cycles  a  hundred 
worlds  by  one  central  fire. 

The  normal  course  of  scholastic  education,  begins 
in  the  systematic  training  of  the  child,  into  habits  of 
careful  and  minute  observation.  While  curiosity  is 
awake,  the  child  is  led  to  appeal  directly  to  nature 
for  information,  and  by  observing  personally,  her 
objects,  facts  and  phenomena,  there  is  awakened 
within  him,  such  a  love  of  knowledge,  as  the  prevail- 
ing methods  of  teaching  can  never  inspire.  Begin- 
ning in  the  concrete  and  simple,  with  familiar  objects, 
drawn  from  a  single  science  or  department  of  nature, 
we  proceed  by  gradual  steps  toward  the  complex  and 
abstract,  and  to  objects  more  remote  and  varied. 
Losing  no  time  for  mere  mental  discipline,  the 
scholar  gains  the  highest  possible  discipline,  in  the 
acquisition  of  the  most  useful  knowledge. 

But  it  is  not  my  design  to  try  to  show  what  the 
normal  system  is  in  these  few  sentences.  Hundreds 
of  pages  would  be  required  to  convey  anything  like 
a  clear  idea  of  all  its  processes.  Let  it  suffice,  for 
the  present,  to  say  that  its  principles  have  been  ad- 


OF    EDUCATION  25 

vocated  by  the  leading  educators  of  all  countries. 
Among  the  foremost  we  find  Comenius,  Pestalozzi, 
Neiderer,  Krusi,  Fellenberg,  Zeller,  Diesterweg, 
Cousin,  Jullien,  Tyndall,  Henfry,  Agassiz,  Russell, 
Sheldon,  Calkins,  and  all  other  educators  as  far  as  I 
am  acquainted,  who  have  devoted  even  a  few  years, 
to  the  inductive  study  of  educational  science. 

"  The  predominant  culture  of  modern  times  had  its 
origin,  more  than  eight  hundred  years  ago,  in  a 
superstition  of  the  middle  ages.  .  .  .  This  scheme 
has  been  handed  down  from  age  to  age,  and  with  but 
slight  changes,  still  predominates  in  the  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  and  still  powerfully  reacts  upon 
the  inferior  schools.   .   .   . 

11  The  ancient  philosophers  held  that  it  was  as  de- 
grading to  seek  useful  knowledge  as  to  practice  use- 
ful arts;  hence,  subjects  of  study  were  chosen  as 
intellectual  gymnastics.  Under  these  circumstances 
no  vulgar  question  of  economy  could  arise;  mental 
power  was  ostentatiously  wasted,  and  with  the  neces- 
sary consequences — truth  unsought  was  not  found; 
the  ends  of  culture  being  ignored,  there  was  neither 
conquest  of  nature  nor  progress  of  society.   .   .   . 

"In  childhood  there  is  a  vast  capability  of  accum- 
ulating simple  facts.  Skilful  guidance  at  this  period 
is  of  the  very  highest  importance.  When  curiosity 
is  freshest,  and  the  perceptions  keenest,  and  memory 
most  impressible,  before  the  maturity  of  the  reflective 
powers,  the  opening  mind  should  be  led  to  the  art  of 
noticing  the  aspects,  properties,  and  simple  relations 


26  THE    NEW    METHOD 

of  the  surrounding  objects  of  nature.  This  should 
be  guided  into  a  growing  habit,  and  the  young  pupil 
gradually  trained  to  know  how  to  observe,  and  what 
to  observe  among  all  the  objects  of  its  unfolding  ex- 
perience. It  should  be  encouraged  to  collect  many 
of  the  little  curiosities  which  awaken  its  attention,  and 
required  carefully  to  preserve  them  ;  but  to  do  all  this 
judiciously  is  delicate  work.  The  custodian  of  the 
child  must  know  something  of  the  objects  of  nature, 
and  much  of  the  nature  of  the  young  pupil.  Above 
all  things,  teachers  qualified  to  do  this  work  are  the 
desperate  need  of  the  age.  To  perfect  the  object- 
method,  and  train  instructors  to  its  discriminating 
use,  is  one  of  the  great  functions  of  normal  schools, 
and  must  become  the  practical  basis  of  a  rational  sys- 
tem of  education.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  there 
is  nothing  forced  or  artificial  here  ;  the  scenes  of 
childish  pleasure  and  exuberant  activity  furnish  the 
objects  of  thought.  In  creating  an  interest  in  these 
things  a  bent  is  given  in  the  true  direction ;  the  valu- 
able habit  of  observing  and  seeking  is  formed  while 
the  numberless  disconnected  shreds  of  knowledge  are 
incipient  acquisitions,  which  will  grow  with  time  into 
the  ripened  forms  of  science.   .   .   . 

"  When  nature  becomes  the  subject  of  study,  the 
love  of  nature  its  stimulus,  and  the  order  of  nature 
its  guide,  then  will  results  in  education  rival  the 
achievements  of  science  in  the  fields  of  its  noblest 
triumphs.  Man's  first  and  his  life-long  concern  is 
with  his  environment,  the  objective  universe  of  God. 
It  is  a  realm  of  law,  and  therefore  he  can  understand 


OF    EDUCATION  27 

and  control  it :  a  scene  of  irresistible  forces  which 
crush  him  if  he  is  ignorant,  and  serve  him  if  he  is 
wise.   .   .   . 

' '  The  overshadowing  error  of  the  present  educa- 
tion, is  the  propensity  to  accept  words  in  place  of  the 
ideas  and  things  for  which  they  stand,  and  from 
which  they  borrow  all  their  value.  Words  are  the 
vehicles  of  thought ;  so  much  of  the  study  of  language, 
and  in  such  forms  as  are  necessary  to  its  intelligent 
use  is  demanded  in  education.  But  the  lingual  stu- 
dent, captivated  by  the  interest  of  word  studies,  loses 
the  end  in  the  means.  A  plough  was  sent  to  a  bar- 
barian tribe  :  they  hung  it  over  with  ornaments,  and 
fell  down  and  worshipped  it.  In  much  the  same 
manner  is  language  treated  in  education.   .   .   . 

"  So  long  as  little  was  known  of  the  order  of  the 
universe,  little  could  be  understood  of  him  in  whom 
that  order  culminates.  And  here  I  call  attention  to 
the  deep  defects  of  that  predominant  scheme  of  cul- 
ture which  not  only  ignores  the  human  brain,  and  the 
sciences  which  illustrate  it,  as  objects  of  earnest  sys- 
tematic study,  but  explodes  upon  it  all  the  traditional 
contempt  which  it  cherishes  for  material  nature. 
Men  admire  the  steam-engine  of  Watt  and  the  calcu- 
lating engine  of  Babbage,  but  how  little  do  they  care 
for  the  thinking  engine  of  the  Infinite  Artificer  ! 
They  venerate  days,  and  dogmas,  and  ceremonials  ; 
but  where  is  the  reverence  that  is  due  to  the  most 
sacred  of  the  things  of  time,  the  organism  of  the 
soul !    .   .   . 

"  A  knowledge  of  the  being  to  be  trained,  as  it  is 


28  THE    NEW    METHOD 

the  basis  of  all  intelligent  culture,  must  be  the  first 
necessity  of  the  teacher.  Education  is  an  art,  which 
may  be  pursued  empirically  or  rationally,  as  a  blind 
habit,  or  under  intelligent  guidance  ;  and  the  rela- 
tions of  science  to  it  are  precisely  the  same  as  to  all 
the  other  arts — to  ascertain  their  conditions,  and  give 
law  to  their  processes.  What  it  has  done  for  naviga- 
tion, telegraphy,  and  war,  it  will  also  do  for  culture. 
The  true  method  of  proceeding  may  be  regarded  as 
established,  and  many  important  results  are  already 
reached,  though  its  systematic  application  is  hardly 
entered  upon. 

"  Our  teachers  mostly  belong  to  the  old  dispensa- 
tion. Their  preparation  is  chiefly  literary  ;  if  they 
obtain  a  little  scientific  knowledge,  it  is  for  the  pur- 
pose of  communicating  it,  and  not  as  a  means  of 
tutorial  guidance.  Their  art  is  a  mechanical  routine, 
and  hence,  very  naturally,  while  admitting  the  im- 
portance of  advancing  views,  they  really  cannot  see 
what  is  to  be  done  about  it.  When  we  say  that  edu- 
tion  is  an  affair  of  the  laws  of  our  being,  involving  a 
wide  range  of  considerations,  that  it  involves  that 
complete  acquaintance  with  corporeal  conditions 
which  science  alone  can  give,  we  seem  to  be  talking 
in  an  unknown  tongue,  or  if  intelligible,  then  very 
irrelevant  and  unpractical.  The  imminent  question 
is,  how  may  the  child  and  youth  be  developed  health- 
fully and  vigorously,  bodily,  mentally,  morally  ;  and 
science  can  alone  answer  it  by  a  statement  of  the  laws 
upon  which  that  development  depends.  Ignorance  of 
these  laws  must  inevitably  involve  mismanagement.' 
— Prof.  E.  L.   Yoni)ia)is. 


OF    EDUCATION  2Q 


<  < 


No  human  pursuits  make  any  material  progress 
until  science  is  brought  to  bear  upon  them.  We 
have  seen,  accordingly,  man}7  of  them  slumber  for 
centuries  upon  centuries;  but,  from  the  moment  that 
science  has  touched  them  with  her  magic  wand,  they 
have  sprung  forward,  and  taken  strides  which  amaze 
and  almost  awe  the  beholder." 
— His  Royal  Highness,  Prince  Albert. 


<  < 


Modern  civilization  rests  upon  physical  science; 
take  away  her  gifts  to  our  country,  and  our  position 
among  the  leading  nations  of  the  world  is  gone  to- 
morrow ;  for  it  is  physical  science  only,  that  makes 
intelligence  and  moral  energy  stronger  than  brute 
force.  ...  I  believe  that  the  greatest  intellectual 
revolution  mankind  has  yet  seen  is  now  slowly  taking 
place  by  her  agency.  She  is  teaching  the  world  that 
the  ultimate  court  of  appeal  is  observation  and  ex- 
periment, and  not  authority  ;  she  is  teaching  it  to  esti- 
mate the  value  of  evidence  ;  she  is  creating  a  firm 
and  living  faith  in  the  existence  of  immutable  moral 
and  physical  laws,  perfect  obedience  to  which  is  the 
highest  possible  aim  of  an  intelligent  being. 

"But  of  all  this  your  old  stereotyped  system  of 
education  takes  no  note.  Physical  science,  its  meth- 
ods, its  problems,  and  its  difficulties,  will  meet  the 
poorest  boy  at  every  turn,  and  yet  we  educate  him  in 
such  a  manner  that  he  shall  enter  the  world  as  ignor- 
ant of  the  existence  of  the  methods  and  facts  of 
science  as  the  day  he  was  born.  The  modern  world 
is  full  of  artillery  ;  and  we  turn  out  our  children  to  do 
battle  in  it,  equipped  with  the  shield  and  sword  of  an 


30  THE    NEW    METHOD 

ancient  gladiator.  Posterity  will  cry  shame  on  us  if 
we  do  not  remedy  this  deplorable  state  of  things. 
Na}',  if  we  live  twenty  years  longer,  our  own  con- 
sciences will  cry  shame  on  us. 

"It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  the  only  way  to 
remedy  it  is  to  make  the  elements  of  physical  science 
an  integral  part  of  primary  education.  But  let  me 
entreat  you  to  remember  my  last  words.  Addressing 
myself  to  you,  as  teachers,  I  would  say,  mere  book 
learning  in  physical  science  is  a  sham  and  a  delusion 
— what  you  teach,  unless  you  wish  to  be  imposters, 
that  you  must  first  know  ;  and  real  knowledge  in 
science  means  personal  acquaintance  with  the  facts, 
be  they  few  or  many." 
—  Thomas  H.  Huxley,  F.R.S.,  LL.D. 

"  Herein  at  present  lies  the  main  difficulty  concern- 
ing the  introduction  of  the  science  of  observation  into 
courses  of  ordinary  education  —  a  grade  of  teachers 
who  should  be  able  and  willing  to  carry  science  into 
schools  for  youth  has  hardly  yet  appeared.  Hitherto 
there  have  been  few  opportunities  for  their  normal 
instruction." — Professor  Edwaj'd  Forbes. 

"  Normal  schools  for  the  preparation  of  teachers 
must  necessarily  be  an  essential  part  of  any  well- 
ordered  public  school  system.  The  rule  under  which 
they  should  not  only  be  taught,  but  likewise  subse- 
quently teach —  the  rule  that  should  be  made  to  apply 
in  every  establishment,  from  the  primary  school  to 
the  university,  is  this  —  education  should  represent 
the  existing  state  of  knowledge. 

"But  in  America  this  golden  rule  is  disregarded, 


OF    EDUCATION  31 

especially  in  the  case  of  the  higher  establishments. 
What  is  termed  classical  learning  arrogates  to  itself  a 
space  that  excludes  much  more  important  things.  It 
finds  means  to  appropriate,  practically,  all  collegiate 
honors.  This  evil  has  arisen  from  the  circumstance 
that  our  system  was  imported  from  England.  It  is  a 
remnant  of  the  tone  of  thought  of  that  country  in  the 
sixteenth  century  ;  meritorious  enough  and  justifi- 
able enough  in  that  day,  but  obsolete  in  this.  The 
vague  impression  that  such  pursuits  impart  a  train- 
ing to  the  mind  has  long  sustained  this  inappropriate 
course.  It  also  finds  an  excuse  in  its  alleged  power 
of  communicating  the  wisdom  of  past  ages.  The 
grand  depositories  of  human  knowledge  are  not  the 
ancient,  but  the  modern  tongues.  Few,  if  any,  are 
the  facts  worth  knowing  that  are  to  be  exclusively 
obtained  by  a  knowledge  of  Latin  and  Greek  ;  and 
as  to  mental  discipline,  it  might  reasonably  be  in- 
quired howT  much  a  youth  will  secure  by  translating 
daily  a  few  good  sentences  of  Latin  and  Greek  into 
bad  and  broken  English.  So  far  as  a  preparation  is 
required  for  the  subsequent  struggles  and  conflicts  of 
life,  an  ingenious  man  would  have  no  difficulty  in 
maintaining  the  amusing  affirmation  that  more  might 
be  gained  from  a  mastery  of  the  game  of  chess  than  by 
translating  all  the  Greek  and  Latin  authors  in  the 
world." — Professor  J.  W.  Draper,  of  the  University  of 
New  York. 

"  Our  whole  system  of  instruction  requires  an  hon- 
est, thorough,  and  candid  revision.  It  has  been  for 
centuries  the  child  of  authority  and   precedent.     If 


32  THE    NEW    METHOD 

those  before  us  made  it  what  it  is,  by  applying  to  it 
the  resources  of  earnest  and  fearless  thought,  I  can 
see  no  reason  why  we,  by  pursuing  the  same  course, 
might  not  improve  it.  God  intended  us  for  progress, 
and  we  counteract  his  design  when  we  deify  anti- 
quity, and  bow  down  and  worship  an  opinion,  not 
because  it  is  either  wise  or  true,  but  merely  because 
it  is  ancient." — Francis  Wayland,  D.D.,  late  Prcsi- 
den t  of  Brown  Un  iversity . 

"  We  hear  a  great  deal  said  of  the  intellectual  treas- 
ures locked  up  in  the  languages  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
which  it  is  asserted  that  our  system  of  education 
throws  open  to  the  student  freely  to  enjoy.  And  yet 
we  know  that  practically  this  claim  is  without  found- 
ation. .  .  .  For  a  period  varying  from  seven  to  ten 
years,  we  keep  young  men  under  a  course  of  instruc- 
tion in  Latin  and  Greek,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time, 
they  are  unable,  in  any  proper  sense,  to  read  either 
the  one  or  the  other.   .   .   . 

"  We  display  a  singular  disregard  of  the  plain  in- 
dications of  nature,  who  herself  points  out  the  order 
in  which  the  faculties  should  be  drawn  out  into  action. 
.  .  .  And  I  suppose  that  the  reason  why  we  should 
follow  nature  is  because  nature  will  thus  most  will- 
ingly follow  us.  The  tasks  we  impose  will  be  pleas- 
ing because  they  will  be  adapted  to  the  strength. 
The  learner  will  easily  submit  himself  to  our  guid- 
ance, because  we  take  him  in  the  direction  in  which 
he  is  already  inclined  to  go.  .  .  .  We  have  inverted 
the  natural  order  just  as  completely  as  possible.  And 
this  inversion  of  the  order  of  nature,  carries  with  it 


OF    EDUCATION  33 

the  unfortunate  consequences  that  no  satisfactory- 
knowledge  is  acquired  at  last." — F.  A.  P.  Barnard, 
LL.D.,  President  of  Columbia  College. 

"  If  there  needs  any  further  evidence  of  the  rude, 
undeveloped  character  of  our  education,  we  have  it 
in  the  fact  that  the  comparative  worths  of  different 
kinds  of  knowledge  have  been  as  yet  scarcely  even 
discussed — much  less  discussed  in  a  methodic  way 
with  definite  results.   .   .   . 

"  We  conclude,  then,  that  for  discipline,  as  well  as 
for  guidance,  science  is  of  chiefest  value.  In  all  its 
effects,  learning  the  meanings  of  things,  is  better 
than  learning  the  meanings  of  words.  Whether  for 
intellectual,  moral,  or  religious  training,  the  study  of 
surrounding  phenomena  is  immensely  superior  to  the  * 
study  of  grammars  and  lexicons.  Necessary  and 
eternal  as  are  its  truths,  all  science  concerns  all  man- 
kind for  all  time.  Equally  at  present,  and  in  the 
remotest  future,  must  it  be  of  incalculable  importance 
for  the  regulation  of  their  conduct,  that  men  should 
understand  the  science  of  life,  physical,  mental,  and 
social ;  and  that  they  should  understand  all  other 
science  as  a  key  to  the  science  of  life.  And  yet  the 
knowledge  which  is  of  such  transcendent  value  is  that 
which,  in  our  age  of  boasted  education,  receives  the 
least  attention. 

"  Passing  on  to  object-lessons,  which  manifestly 
form  a  natural  continuation  of  this  primary  culture 
of  the  senses,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  the  system 
commonly  pursued  is  wholly  at  variance  with  the 
method  of  nature.     To  tell  a  child  this  and  to  show 


34  THE    NEW    METHOD 

it  the  other,  is  not  to  teach  it  how  to  observe,  but  to 
make  it  a  mere  recipient  of  another's  observations  ;  a 
proceeding  which  weakens  rather  than  strengthens 
its  powers  of  self-instruction.   .   .   . 

"  Object-lessons  should  not  only  be  carried  on  after 
quite  a  different  fashion  from  that  commonly  pur- 
sued, but  should  be  extended  to  a  range  of  things 
far  wider,  and  continue  to  a  period  far  later,  than 
now.  They  should  not  be  limited  to  the  contents  of 
the  house  ;  but  should  include  those  of  the  fields  and 
the  hedges,  the  quarry  and  the  sea-shore.  They 
should  not  cease  with  early  childhood  ;  but  should 
be  so  kept  up  during  youth  as  insensibly  to  merge 
into  the  investigations  of  the  naturalist  and  the  man 
■of  science.  Here  again  we  have  but  to  follow  nature's 
leadings.  Where  can  be  seen  an  intenser  delight  than 
that  of  children  picking  up  new  flowers  and  watch- 
ing new  insects,  or  hoarding  pebbles  and  shells  ? 
And  who  is  there  but  perceives  that  by  sympathizing 
with  them  they  may  be  led  on  to  any  extent  of  in- 
quiry into  the  qualities  and  structure  of  these  things  ? 
Every  botanist  who  has  had  children  with  him  in  the 
woods  and  the  lanes  must  have  noticed  how  eagerly 
they  joined  in  his  pursuits,  how  keenly  they  searched 
out  plants  for  him,  how  intently  the)*  watched  whilst 
he  examined  them,  how  they  overwhelmed  him  with 
questions.    .    .    . 

"  It  will  by  and  by  be  found  that  a  knowledge  of 
the  laws  of  life  is  more  important  than  any  other 
knowledge  whatever — that  the  laws  of  life  include 
not  only  all  bodily  and  mental  processes,  but  by  im- 


OF    EDUCATION  35 

plication  all  the  transactions  of  the  house  and  street, 
all  commerce,  all  politics,  all  morals — and  that  there- 
fore without  a  due  acquaintance  with  them  neither 
personal  nor  social  conduct  can  be  rightly  regulated. 
It  will  eventually  be  seen  too,  that  the  laws  of  life  are 
essentially  the  same  throughout  the  whole  organic 
creation  ;  and  further,  that  they  cannot  be  properly 
understood  in  their  complex  manifestations  until  they 
have  been  studied  in  their  simpler  ones.  And  when 
this  is  seen,  it  will  be  also  seen  that  in  aiding  the 
child  to  acquire  the  out-of-door  information  for  which 
it  shows  so  great  an  avidity,  and  in  encouraging  the 
acquisition  of  such  information  throughout  }'outh,  we 
are  simply  inducing  it  to  store  up  the  raw  material 
for  future  organization — the  facts  that  will  one  day 
bring  home  to  it  with  due  force  these  great  generali- 
zations of  science  by  which  actions  may  be  rightly 
guided. ' ' — Herbert  Spencer. 

"  Infant  and  primary  education  I  reckon  the  high- 
est and  most  difficult  of  educational  problems.  .  .  . 
True  education  is  an  imitation,  not  a  thwarting  of 
nature.  To  be  successful  we  must  watch  and  learn 
how  the  Divine  Goodness  teaches  the  little  Adam  just 
entered  upon  his  glorious  heritage,  we  must  conform 
to  that  method  if  we  would  be  successful.  And  we 
find  that  God,  in  the  infant's  education,  is  no  tyrant 
exacting  of  each  his  portion  of  loathed  labor,  but  that 
he  educates  the  expanding  mind  by  freedom,  joy  and 
beauty,  through  nature  training  eye,  and  ear,  and 
every  sense,  by  every  novelty  of  form,  and  sound, 
and  color ;  and   that  we  must   help   and  not  hinder 


36  THE    NEW    METHOD 

this  natural  education,  by  guiding,  and  controlling, 
and  using  the  same  materials. 

"  There  is  an  intense  and  most  easily  awakened 
curiosity  in  children,  respecting  the  phenomena  of 
the  outward  world. — Every  bird,  beast  and  insect  is 
a  marvel ;  the  clouds,  the  moon,  the  stars,  the  beau- 
tiful forms  and  colors  of  flowers,  the  very  stones  under 
their  feet,  all,  to  the  mind  of  childhood  are  objects  of 
study,  objects  of  wonder.  But  after  a  few  years  of 
ordinary  school-teaching,  all  this  is  found  to  have  dis- 
appeared, and  too  often  no  other  curiosity,  no  other 
interest,  or  worse  still,  some  bad  one,  has  arisen  to 
take  its  place,  I  think  I  am  not  too  strong  in  my  state- 
ment ;  but  what  a  satire  is  this  on  what  we  call  edu- 
cation !  Or  is  the  process  of  teaching  first  to  kill  as 
a  preliminary  to  artificially  restoring  them  ?  Alas  ! 
in  too  many  cases  they  are  never  restored,  and  our 
education  consists  only  in  a  mental  maiming.   .   .   . 

' '  So  entangled  are  our  notions  of  education  with 
books  and  the  art  of  reading — in  reality  only  one  of 
the  tools  of  education — that  we  too  often  virtually 
use  the  tool,  not  to  build,  but  to  destroy  our  educa- 
tion. .  .  .  The  substitution  of  true  object-teaching 
for  an  excess  of  book-learning  in  elementary  educa- 
tion seems  to  me  the  first  step  in  a  return  to  truth 
and  nature. 

"  Do  you  want  to  destroy  a  child's  interest  in  a 
subject  ?  Compel  him  to  learn  lessons  out  of  a  dry 
treatise  upon  it.  Do  you  want  to  kindle  his  interest 
into  enthusiasm  ?  Give  him  oral  lessons  upon  it — 
always  provided  you  know  how — which  is,  I  grant,  a 


OF    EDUCATION  37 

• 

great  assumption,  because  nothing  is  more  difficult. 
For,  first,  you  must  know  the  subject.  Now,  if  one 
would  know  how  ignorant  he  is  of  a  subject  he  thought 
he  understood,  let  him  try  to  give  a  child  an  expla- 
nation of  it.  One  may  lecture  to  grown  persons,  and 
succeed  in  concealing  his  ignorance  from  himself  as 
well  as  his  hearers  ;  he  cannot  do  so  from  a  child. 
He  will  have  nothing  but  real  knowledge,  and  you 
cannot  give  it  to  him  in  any  shape  in  which  he  can 
comprehend  it  without  possessing  it  yourself.   .   .   . 

11  Here  is  where,  I  confess,  I  think  our  teachers 
are  too  apt  to  come  short  of  what  ought  fo  be  required 
of  them.  I  speak  from  personal  experience  as  a 
teacher.  Having  learned  from  books  themselves, 
they  know  only  how  to  teach  from  books,  unless,  by 
putting  themselves  to  school  over  again,  the}7  learn  a 
better  method. 

11  Shall  I  be  thought  very  extravagant,  if  I  say,  so 
impressed  am  I  with  the  necessity  of  a  better  selec- 
tion of  studies  and  better  methods  of  teaching,  that  I 
am  almost  ready  to  affirm  that  the  common  school  of 
America,  as  I  believe  it  will  exist  in  the  future,  is  an 
institution  yet  to  be  created  ?  .  .  .  The  common  school 
is  an  institution  not  intended  first  and  foremost  to  pre- 
pare a  minority  of  pupils  for  higher  seminaries  of 
learning,  and  then  devote  what  time  can  be  spared  to 
those  whose  education  is  to  end  with  it.  The  district 
school  should  be,  and  can  be,  the  people's  college, 
though  great  changes  must  be  made  in  it  before  it 
can  become  so. 

"Life    is   education.     Shall   we    send    them    from 


38  THE    NEW    METHOD 

school  wanting  the  very  rudiments  of  life-education? 
Above  all,  shall  we  leave  them  ignorant  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  very  bodies  their  spirits  dwell  in,  and 
thus  a  prey,  themselves,  and  their  children,  to  all  dis- 
asters which  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  life  brings  with 
it  ?  I  say  that  schools  that  neglect  all  this,  are  not 
good  schools,  and  we  cannot  complain  of  the  tax- 
payer grudging  his  money,  when  he  finds  his  child- 
ren learn  so  little  that  is  useful." — Professor  W.  P. 
At  kin  so  7i. 

W.  L.  WHITTEMORE. 
March,  1869. 


SECTION   III. 


Normal  High  School,  1870 


CATALOGUE 


AND 


CIRCULAR 


OF    THE 


Normal   High    School 


MILFORD,  N.  H. 


I  867-70 


MILFORD,   N.   H. 

PRINTED   BY  J.    M.    BLANCHARD 


1870 


42 

TEACHERS 


Mr.    WM.     L.    WHITTEMORE,    Principal 


TEACHERS  OF  MODEL  CLASSES 

Miss   AMY  LIZZIE   SAWYER 
Miss  ANNA  F.  HUTCHINSON 
Miss  CARRIE  A.  DAVIS 
Miss  MABEL  WEST 
Miss  ADDIE  M.  LAKIN 
Miss  LIZZIE  E.  BLOOD 
Miss  ELLA  M.  HUTCHINSON 
Miss  HELEN  I.  LANE 
Miss  ALICE  J.  HOOD 
Miss  LEVADE  J.  JOHNSON 
Miss  ANNAH  E.  ADAMS 
Miss  CLARA  B.  GUTTERSON 


SCHOLAR  ASSISTANTS 

Mr.  FRANK  W.  RICHARDSON 
Mr.  EMRI  C.  HUTCHINSON 
Mr.  CHARLES  R.  HOWARD 
Mr.  FRANK  G.  DICKEY 


PUPILS 


43 


SENIOR  CLASS 


Addie  M.  Lakin 
Mabel  West 
Carrie  A.  Davis 
Anna  F.  Hutchinson 
Amy  L.  Sawyer 
Lizzie  E.  Blood 
Annah  E.  Adams 
Clemmie  E.  Averill 
Helen   I.  Lane 
Fannie  E.  Lane 
Lueeea  C.  Hutchinson 
Clara  B.  Gutterson 
Florence  M.  Lane 
Emma  A.  Perkins 
Emma  Bennett 
Abby  P.  Parmelee 
Ella  M.  Hutchinson 
Levade  J.  Johnson 
Clara  E.  Crosby 
Ella  M.  Turner 


Ella  M.  Marcy 
Fannie  A.  Bullard 
Frank  W.  Richardson 
Charles  R.  Howard 
Emri  C.  Hutchinson 
Luke  A.  Farley 
Frank  W.  Lovejoy 
Edward  G.  Clark 
Edward  G.  Came 
Harry  C.  Lynch 
Frank  G.  Dickey 
Gustaye  G.  Fletcher 
George  E.  Farley 
Herbert  L.  Peabody 
Allen  A.  Bennett 
Edward  T.  Adams 
George  P.  Lynch 
Walter  D.  Hutchinson 
Charles  Needham 
John  Peacock 


44 


JUNIOR  CLASS 
Hattie  E.  Farley  Oldis  A.  Barrett 


Josephine  E.  Snow 
Emma  F.  Wallingford 
Lucy  J.  Putnam 

IvYDIA    M.    DARRACOTT 

Anna  F.  Bennett 
Georgtanna  Nutting 
Jennie  N.  Clark 
Dora  E.  Chickering 
Augusta  J.  Draper 
Deeia  C.  Hutchtnson 
Abbie  Robb 
Eeea  S.  Burnham 
Susie  E.  Willoughby 
Chareotte  Gibson 
Neleie  E.  Danfortii 
Cora  J.  Lynch 
Augusta  C.  Mixer 
Hannah  Dempsfy 


Wiuiam  Peacock 

WlIvEIAM   A.   TARBEEE 
ELMON  J.    GUTTERSON 

Edward  S.  Kimball 
Neweee  J.  Sawyer 
LeRoy  vS.  Kimbaee 
Fred  W.  Farnsworth 
Aeoft  Johnson 
Wendeee  P.  Tarbeee 
Fred  S.  Hutchinson 
Charees  G.  Hutchinson 
George  F.  Burns 
Levi  W.  Perkins 
Samuee  Spalding 
Edward  S.  Howard 
George  E.  Sheldon 
Lauren  M.  Foeeansbee 
Charles  W.  Miller 


Florence  H.  Lund 


Charles  E.  Wilkins 


ELEMENTARY  CLASS 


45 


Hattie  P.  Mixer 


Charles. K.  Crosby 


Nellie  C.  Turner 


William  Wadleigh 


Mary  J.  Richards 


Richard  Burns 


Eunicp;  Bacon 


Walter  M.  Lynch 


Ella  A.  Dewitt 


Charles  I.  Wilkins 


Ella  Willoughby 


Philip  H.  Osgood 


Eunice  Huntress 


Timothy  Crowhan 


Ella  M.  Brown 


George  Shanessy 


Fannie  Perciyal 


Henry    VV.  Brown 


Carrie  Dean 


Horace  Dean 


Anna  Shanessy 


Charles  French 


Minnie  Barrett 


John  Barrey 


Eunice  Robinson 


John  Gourley 


46 


FIRST   MODEL  CLASS 


Clara  J.  Towne 
Kate  A.  Dickey 


Florence  S.  Coburu 
Emma  S.  Powers 


SECOND  MODEL  CLASS 

Nellie  E.  Hutchinson  James  Melzer 

Belle  B.  Hutchinson  George  Bass 

Belle  Knowlton  Aura  Boweu 

THIRD  MODEL  CLASS 
Frank  Wilkins  Hattie  Woods 


Fred  Wilkins 
Willie  Trow 
Willie  Guild 
Eddie  Duncklee 

FOURTH 

Charles  Johnson 
Freddie  Howard 
Estella  Woodbridge 
Philena  Woodbridge 
Hattie  Hall 
Etta  French 
Anna  Steele 
Samuel  French 
Charles  Mackay 
Etta  May 


Fred  Holmes 
George  Trow 
Walter  Mills 
Clinton  Masseck 

MODEL  CLASS 

Grace  Coburu 
Fred  Wetherbee 
Arthur  Wallingford 
Charles  Trow 
Frank  Dean 
Walter  Dean 
George  Johnson 
Maggie  Barrey 
David  Barrey 
Julian  Tarbell 


47 

SUMMARY 

Number  of  Pupils         ...                  ....  ;^<s 

"  Girls                .......  73 

"  Boys            ........  73 

in  Senior  Class            -         -                  -         -  40 

"   Junior  Class       -         -                           -         -         -  40 

"    Elementary  Class           -                  -         -         -  26 

"    Model  Classes            -  40 

"    Common  Branches         -                  ...  140 

"    Algebra      --------  36 

"    Geometry       -.-._.-  34 

"    Trigonometry            -        -         -         -         -         -  11 

"    Book-Keeping        .--_..  10 

"    Natural  Philosophy           -                  ...  40 

"    Botany             ._-_...  64 
"    Geology     --------47 

"    Chemistry      -.-..__  41 

"    Ph}^sical  Geography          -  36 

"    Physiology     -------  32 

"    Astronomy                  ...                  -         -  32 

"    Zoology           -         -                  ...  40 
"    History      --------44 

"    Rhetoric                           18 

"    Greek                  18 

"    Latin                         ......  ,8 

"    French        -  15 

"    Mental  Philosophy                          ...  12 

"    Political  Economy             -----  12 

"    Logic      -                 ______  10 


48 


GRADUATES 

CLASS  OF  1865 

FRANCES  S.  PERRY 
HELEN  I.  LANE 
CHARLOTTE  S.  ROBBINS 
^ANTOINETTE  A.  PILLSBURY 

CLASS  OF  1867 

FANNIE  E.  LANE 
ALICE  J.  HOOD 
JOSEPHINE  E.  BRUCE 
ISADORE  J.  RICHARDSON 

CLASS  OF  1869 

LUELLA  C.  HUTCHINSON 
FLORA  J.  CUTTER 
ANNAH  E.  ADAMS 

CLASS  OF   1870 

CARRIE  A.  DAVIS 
AMY  LIZZIE  SAWYER 
ANNA  F.  HUTCHINSON 
MABEL  WEST 
ADDIE  M.  LAKIN 
LIZZIE  E.  BLOOD 
FRANK  W.   RICHARDSON 
EMRI  C.  HUTCHINSON 
CHARLES  R.  HOWARD 


*Deceased 


CIRCULAR 

What  shall  we  teach  ?  And  how  shall  we  teach  ? 
These  are  the  great  educational  questions  of  the 
present  century;  but  during  the  last  few  years  much 
progress  has  been  made  towards  a  philosophic  and 
satisfactory  answer.  The  main  question  to-day 
seems  to  be  a  question  of  method  ;  for  if  the  innate 
energies  and  activities  of  the  child  can  be  rightly  di- 
rected, not  only  all  the  sciences  which  constitute  the 
real  knowledge  of  the  nineteenth  century  may  be  well 
learned,  but  much  may  be  accomplished  in  our  com- 
mon schools  in  such  arts  as  may  have  the  most  direct 
bearing  upon  human  welfare. 

It  has  been  said  and  often  repeated  that  ' '  there  is 
no  royal  road  to  learning."  But  is  it  possible  that  a 
scheme  of  culture,  empirically  adopted  in  the  dark 
ages,  is  never  to  be  superseded  by  a  better  one  ? 
Human  devices  are  not  born  perfect  ;  but  they  tend 
towards  perfection  by  natural  growth.  The  earth 
through  cycles  of  ages,  passed  from  a  fiery  chaos, 
first  to  an  abode  for  hideous  monsters,  and  then  to  a 
paradise  for  man.  Simple  organisms  soon  reach  ma- 
turity, but  complicated  ones  require  centuries.  The 
law  is  the  same  with  the  devices  of  men.  The 
puerile  nonsense  of  astrology  grew  through  successive 


50  THE    NEW   METHOD 

ages  into  the  sublime  science  of  astronomy.  The 
alchemists,  covered  with  the  thick  mist  of  ignorance, 
labored  under  a  strange  delusion  for  centuries ;  but 
their  diligent  search  for  power  to  change  base  metals 
to  gold  and  mortality  to  immortality,  led  them  to  the 
very  portals  of  the  inner  temple  of  Deity,  and  dis- 
closed the  hidden  springs  of  nature's  million  labora- 
tories. 

There  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  management 
of  the  most  complex  affairs  of  society  will  ever  cease 
to  be  improved ;  for  the  knowledge  of  truth  is  pro- 
gressive, and  every  new  fact  that  is  discovered  may 
influence  our  course  of  action.  We  are  not  to  blame 
the  past  because  all  its  wisdom  is  not  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  present  time ;  much  of  the  wisdom 
which  blesses  the  world  to-day  may  become  obsolete 
as  the  centuries  roll  by. 

The  method  of  education  that  prevails  in  this  coun- 
try, and  which  must  prevail  until  a  better  one  shall 
have  been  more  generally  learned,  spends  its  ener- 
gies on  the  mere  trappings  and  appliances  of  true 
education,  and  dealing  with  these  in  a  manner  op- 
posed to  the  law  of  mental  acquisition,  accomplishes 
comparatively  little  even  in  what  it  undertakes.  We 
are  beginning  to  understand  that  to  depart  from 
Nature's  fixed  laws  is,  and  must  be  sure  defeat, 
whether  those  laws  relate  to  matter  or  to  mind  ;  and 


OF    EDUCATION  51 

that  to  ensure  obedience  to  laws  it  is  extremely  nec- 
essary to  know  of  their  existence. 

True  education  is  the  greatest  of  all  arts,  and  is 
founded  on  the  deepest  of  all  sciences :  on  these  sci- 
ences it  depends  for  direction  in  all  its  processes. 
The  objective  universe  is  marvellous  indeed ;  but 
how  much  more  so  is  the  mind  that  is  to  comprehend 
it.  To  educate  that  mind  properly,  is  the  most  com- 
plex, as  well  as  the  most  essential  work  that  mortals 
have  to  do.  A  system  of  culture  that  involves  no 
special  knowledge  of  the  being  to  be  educated  and  no 
professional  training  for  the  work,  must  not  only  be 
futile  in  its  efforts  to  educate,  but  a  flagrant  outrage 
upon  the  mind  of  its  recipients. 

Educational  philosophy  dictates  an  entire  revision 
of  the  present  mode  of  culture.  Directing  us  to  the 
primary  source  of  all  knowledge,  and  to  its  acquisi- 
tion in  Nature's  own  method,  with  all  the  aid  that 
science  and  art  can  furnish,  it  prepares  the  way  for 
rapid  progress  in  every  science.  Captivated  by  a 
succession  of  new  ideas  as  he  is  led  on  by  systematic 
observation,  the  child  soon  begins  to  analyze  and  in- 
terpret the  phenomena  of  Nature,  and  to  perceive  the 
beauty  and  the  harmony  that  pervade  the  world. 
In  the  volume  of  Nature  there  are  no  faults.  It  is 
God's  perfect  text-book  for  the  young  and  the  old  of 
all  nations  and  for  all  time.     Its  ample  pages  are  all 


52  THE    NEW    METHOD 

illuminated  with  infinite  skill,  to  allure  us  to  the 
study  of  the  perfect  wisdom  of  the  great  Author 
of  all. 

The  deep  defects  of  the  predominant  culture  are 
everywhere  apparent.  Reversing  the  order  of  Nature, 
it  violates  the  laws  of  development  in  almost  all  its 
processes.  Vicious  alike  in  its  methods  and  its  ten- 
dencies, it  crushes  out  the  natural  love  of  knowledge, 
produces  intellectual  stagnation,  petrifies  the  heart, 
and  signally  fails  to  accomplish  the  high  purposes 
which  a  true  culture  must  accomplish. 

Possessed  of  faculties  susceptible  of  endless  expan- 
sion, and  fitted  by  Nature  to  study  her  works  and  learn 
her  mysteries  with  wonder  and  delight,  the  child  of 
five  years  enters  school  with  faculties  all  alive  to  the 
marvels  that  surround  him.  He  has  already  learned 
intuitively  the  most  obvious  properties  and  simple  re- 
lations of  every  familiar  object ;  and  through  his  con- 
stant voluntary  efforts  to  express  the  ideas  which 
have  entered  his  mind  through  these  objects  and 
their  attendant  phenomena,  he  has,  since  the  age  of 
about  two  years,  learned  the  mystery  of  language. 
Moreover,  the  ability  to  talk  is  the  least  of  the  child's 
acquisitions  before  entering  school.  The  knowledge 
of  things  around  him  —  the  things  with  which  he  is 
to  deal  as  long  as  he  lives,  is  the  great  acquisition. 

The  first  five  years  of  school  life  are  the  all-impor- 


OF    EDUCATION  53 

tant  years  of  the  scholastic  course  :  yet  the  teacher 
accomplishes  very  little  except  to  stultify  the  quick 
perceptions  of  childhood.  The  reason  is  obvious. 
He  begins  by  the  contravention  of  Nature's  law, 
superimposes  arbitrary  and  unnatural  work,  and  fails 
to  perceive  that  he  is  to  aid  that  spontaneous  educa- 
tion which  has  already  accomplished  so  much.  Those 
wonderful  intuitive  attainments,  without  which  the 
child  would  require  protection  every  moment,  are  all 
overlooked  or  counted  as  nothing.  The  observing 
faculties,  those  natural  avenues  of  knowledge,  with- 
out which  all  education  would  be  an  impossibility, 
are  suppressed  or  practically  ignored ;  and  the  child 
is  treated  as  if  the  only  road  to  learning  were  through 
the  arbitrary  signs  of  ideas  —  as  if  the  knowledge  of 
things  were  nothing,  but  the  knowledge  of  words  the 
great  desideratum. 

We  might  as  well  expect  an  ample  harvest  from 
sowing  in  the  eternal  snows  of  the  Himalaya,  as  to 
expect  much  real  culture  in  our  primary  schools  as 
now  organized.  And  the  time  has  now  come  when 
this  inappropriate  and  profitless  course,  long  sus- 
tained by  the  power  of  old  tradition,  must  gradually 
give  way  for  a  more  philosophic  and  natural  one. 
Efforts  to  improve  our  schools  of  higher  grade  will 
be  of  little  avail   until  the  method   in  our  primary 


54  THE    NEW   METHOD 

schools  is  radically  changed.  We  are  not  to  modify 
an  old  method,  but  to  inaugurate  a  new  system. 

But  has  the  missing  truth  been  found  so  that  a 
faultless  scheme  can  at  once  be  adopted  ?  No  science 
is  yet  perfect.  The  finite  cannot  comprehend  infinite. 
The  general  laws  of  astronomy  are  known,  and  an 
eclipse  is  foretold  centuries  before  it  takes  place.  So 
in  the  science  of  education  the  general  principles  are 
established,  and  by  their  guidance  we  can  make 
rapid  progress  towards  a  perfect  system  of  culture. 

A  right  mode  of  teaching  coincides  with  nature's 
tendencies,  and  instead  of  repressing,  guides  the 
natural  activity  of  the  mind  in  accordance  with  the 
laws  of  its  spontaneous  evolution,  utilizing  the  child's 
playful  activity  for  available  culture. 

Science  is  the  great  revolutionary  power, —  the 
pioneer  of  every  true  reform.  What  hidden  stores  of 
wisdom  she  has  brought  to  light,  and  what  mighty 
conquests  over  nature's  forces  she  has  won  !  Dur- 
ing the  last  half  century  she  has  revolutionized 
almost  every  art,  and  given  us  all  the  varied  bless- 
ings of  the  present  hour.  Science  now  begins  to 
direct  the  hand  of  human  culture,  and  will  save  our 
race  from  the  evils  of  violated  law  by  saving  us  from 
ignorance.  Empiricism  can  no  longer  be  trusted  to 
direct  the  energies  and  aspirations  of  the  mind  ;  and 
instead  of  frowning  upon  a  rising  science,  let  us  hail 


OF   EDUCATION  55 

with  transport  every  new  light  that  can  aid  us  to 
comprehend  the  realm  of  universal  law  in  which  we 
dwell. 

At  this  stage  of  the  world's  progress,  when  nations 
are  awakening  to  the  right  of  the  majority  to  rule,  it 
is  essential  both  to  social  and  civil  prosperity,  that 
every  one  be  so  educated  as  to  see  that  he  is  not  at 
liberty  to  hold  to  such  opinions  as  his  preoccupied 
imagination  may  fancy,  but  that  he  has  no  right  to 
an  opinion  until  he  possesses  facts,  and  draws  conclu- 
sions from  evidence.  Great  truths  have  been  smoth- 
ered for  ages  after  they  were  first  announced,  and 
their  discoverers  persecuted  instead  of  cherished  for 
their  manly  defence  of  them,  because  an  unreasoning 
populace  were  unable  to  separate  truth  from  preju- 
dice. If  w7e  would  but  learn  the  laws  of  the  world's 
progress  in  science  and  in  civilization,  we  might  be 
saved  from  such  self-defeat,  and  at  the  same  time 
both  gain  and  give  the  pleasure  of  a  grateful  recog- 
nition of  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  the  benefactors 
of  our  race. 

In  one  of  the  Nashua  papers  of  January,  may  be 
found  the  following,  from  the  pen  of  a  Milford  corre- 
spondent : 

1 '  Last  Tuesday  evening  Professor  Sanborn  of  Dart- 
mouth College  favored  us  with  the  most  sensible 
lecture  ever  delivered  in  this  town  on  the  subject  of 


56  THE    NEW    METHOD 

education.  .  .  .  He  alluded  also  to  the  folly  of  in- 
troducing into  our  schools  object-teaching.  .  .  . 
The  lecture  of  the  Professor  will  be  the  means  of 
doing  good,  and  he  deserves  the  thanks  of  the  whole 
community  for  daring  to  take  such  a  manly  stand 
against  a  great  and  growing  evil." 

The  few  assertions  made  by  Professor  Sanborn  are 
not  quite  sufficient  to  convince  all  who  listened  of 
the  correctness  of  his  views.  He  stated  that  object 
teaching  is  one  of  the  innovations  of  the  day;  that  it 
comes  from  the  West,  and  captivates  such  teachers 
as  cannot  discriminate  between  innovation  and  prog- 
ress. He  compared  the  interest  in  object  teaching 
to  the  velocipede  mania  of  last  year,  stating  that  it 
would  last  about  as  long  and  do  about  as  much  good. 

He  ridiculed  the  idea  of  strolling  about  for  flowers, 
butterflies  and  everything  else  for  object  lessons,  and 
enquired  when  the  children  would  learn  to  read  and 
spell,  if  time  is  taken  for  such  work. 

This  is  the  substance  of  his  remarks  on  that  topic. 
It  was  not  necessary  to  say  any  more.  He  succeeded 
well  in  showing  that  he  knows  very  little  of  the  sub- 
ject, that  he  neither  understands  the  methods,  nor 
comprehends  the  philosophy  of  such  instruction  ;  and 
instead  of  ''deserving  the  thanks  of  the  whole  com- 
munity," it  seems  to  me  that  he  deserves  the  public 
censure  for  undertaking  to  enlighten  the  community 


OF    EDUCATION  57 

on  the  subject,  while  he  is  so  ignorant  of  the  first 
principles  of  primary  instruction.  Neither  the  lect- 
urer nor  his  reporter  ever  saw  one  of  the  object  lessons 
which  they  labor  to  suppress,  and  hence  their  opin- 
ion of  them  is  worth  no  more  than  that  of  a  Hindoo 
upon  the  origin  of  the  Shasters. 

Here  we  see  a  single  instance  among  thousands 
that  daily  occur,  of  the  sad  result  of  that  fatal  error 
in  the  education  of  our  time,  which,  by  ignoring  the 
sciences  that  train  the  mind  to  logical  reasoning, 
gives  the  educated  man  but  little  advantage  in  reason- 
ing over  the  uninstructed.  The  education  that  does 
not  inculcate  humility  and  reservation  of  judgment 
must  be  faulty  indeed.  Mere  linguists  or  mathema- 
ticians as  well  as  the  untaught,  oftentimes  find  no 
difficulty  in  forming  an  opinion  before  tbey  have 
learned  the  first  fact  on  the  subject;  and  the  un- 
scientific pronounce  upon  scientific  questions  with  all 
the  assertion  and  audacity  of  the  old  astrologers. 

"If  we  consult  reason,  and  the  common  testimony 
of  ancient  and  modern  times,  none  of  our  intellectual 
studies  tend  to  cultivate  a  smaller  number  of  the 
faculties,  in  a  more  partial  or  feeble  manner,  than 
mathematics.  This  is  acknowledged  by  every  writer 
on  education  of  the  least  pretention  to  judgment  and 
experience."  Sir  William  Hamilton. 

' '  There  is  no  study  that  could  prove  more  success 


58  THE    NEW    METHOD 

ful  in  producing  often  thorough  idleness  and  vacancy 
of  mind,  parrot-like  repetition  and  sing-song  knowl- 
edge, to  the  abeyance  and  destruction  of  the  intel- 
lectual powers,  as  well  as  to  the  loss  and  paralysis  of 
the  outward  senses,  than  our  traditional  study  and 
idolatry  of  language." 

Professor  Half  or  d  Vaughan. 

"  Persons  who  have  been  fully  educated,  according 
to  the  present  system,  come  to  me  with  the  same 
propositions  as  the  untaught  and  stronger  ones,  be- 
cause they  have  a  strong  conviction  that  they  are 
right.  They  are  ignorant  of  their  ignorance  at  the 
end  of  all  that-  education.  .  .  .  Until  they  know 
what  are  the  laws  of  nature,  they  cannot  clear  their 
minds  of  these,  as  I  say,  most  absurd  inconsistencies; 
and  I  say  again,  that  the  system  of  education  that 
could  leave  the  mental  condition  of  the  public  body 
in  the  state  in  which  this  subject  has  found  it,  must 
have  been  greatly  deficient  in  some  very  important 
principle. ' '  Professor  Faraday. 

"  The  models  of  the  art  of  estimating  evidence  are 
furnished  by  science  ;  the  rules  are  suggested  by 
science  ;  and  the  study  of  science  is  the  most  funda- 
mental portion  of  the  practice  ;  .  .  .  All  men  do  not 
affect  to  be  reasoners,  but  all  profess,  and  really 
attempt,  to  draw  inferences  from  experience  ;  yet 
hardly  any  one,  who  has  not  been  a  student  of  the 
physical  sciences,  sets  out  with  any  just  idea  of  what 
the  process  of  interpreting  experience  really  is." 

Mr.  fohn  Stuart  Mill. 


OF    EDUCATION  59 

Object  teaching  does  not  come  from  the  "  West," 
— it  comes  from  the  opposite  direction, — from  learned 
Germany,  and  dates  from  the  time  of  Pestalozzi,  the 
discoverer  of  most  of  its  principles.  From  the  be- 
ginning of  the  present  century  it  has  been  extending 
in  all  directions  from  Germany.  The  application  of 
its  principles  has  been  greatly  extended  in  Europe 
during  the  last  thirty  years  by  Froebel,  Baroness 
Marenholtz-Bulow,  and  others. 

Its  progress  in  America  has  been  greatly  hindered, 
both  by  the  lack  of  scientific  culture  on  the  part  of 
most  teachers  who  have  attempted  it,  and  the  neglect 
of  serving  an  apprenticeship  in  the  application  of  the 
principles.  Americans  are  much  inclined  to  think 
that  nothing  is  too  difficult  for  them  to  do,  whether 
they  have  learned  to  do  it  or  not  ;  and  those  who 
attempt  this  most  difficult  work  without  due  qualifi- 
cation, not  only  accomplish  very  little  good,  but 
bring  the  system  into  disrepute  by  their  want  of  skill 
in  its  practice.  This  is  probably  what  has  turned 
Professor  Sanborn's  face  from  it;  but  it  seems  that 
he  was  not  so  deeply  impressed  with  ' '  the  folly  of 
object  teaching"  as  to  think  it  best  to  present  his 
views  in  other  places  where  he  lectured.  I  am  unable 
to  hear  of  any  other  place  where  he  mentions  the 
subject  at  all.     Yet  I  may  be  misinformed.     Can  it 


60  THE    NEW    METHOD 

be  possible  that  he  thought  Milford  alone  was  unable 
to  take  care  of  her  own  interests  ? 

The  general  system  to  which  I  have  given  my 
mind  for  nearly  eighteen  years,  and  which  we  have 
gradually  adopted  in  Milford,  as  far  as  circumstances 
would  allow,  is  the  only  professional  or  studied  sys- 
tem in  the  world.  To  be  carried  on  successfully  it 
involves  much  knowledge  of  all  the  things  with  which 
the  teacher  deals,  including  all  the  sciences  to  be 
learned,  and  the  being  that  is  to  learn  them.  Hence 
it  will  be  seen  that  its  methods  cannot  be  caught  up 
and  put  into  practice  by  any  one,  at  pleasure,  but 
that  they  must  first  be  learned.  This  cannot  be  done 
in  a  day  nor  a  year ;  the  whole  scholastic  course  is 
the  appropriate  time,  and  is  none  too  long  ;  for  it 
involves  all  that  knowledge  which  constitutes  the 
best  general  education  for  all  places  and  circum- 
stances in  life. 

By  object  lessons  we  mean  the  learning  of  science 
by  actual  inspection  of  the  object  of  study,  instead  of 
learning  a  written  description  or  listening  to  oral 
description.  It  requires  very  little  penetration  to 
see  which  is  the  best  method.  Can  we  make  botanists 
without  plants,  astronomers  without  stars,  mineralo- 
gists without  minerals  and  philosophers  without  see- 
ing the  objects  and  phenomena  of  the  world  ?     The 


OF    EDUCATION  6 1 

best  description  that  can  be  made  conveys  to  the  mind 
but  a  dim  shadow  of  the  reality. 

Can  we  describe  the  face  of  our  most  intimate  as- 
sociate so  that  a  stranger  would  recognize  him  in 
Broadway  to-morrow?  Do  we  know  how  Vesuvius 
appeared  to  an  observer  after  learning  his  descrip- 
tion ?  The  object  method  is  nature's  method.  Can 
the  rainbow  be  described  so  that  a  blind  man  who 
has  never  received  one  of  nature's  object  lessons  on 
colors  can  gain  any  correct  idea  of  its  splendor  ?  He 
can  gain  no  idea  of  the  meaning  of  words  expressive 
of  color*  because  object  lessons  on  color  are  an  im- 
possibility with  him. 

It  is  strange  "  folly  "  that  would  close  the  natural 
inlets  of  knowledge — the  senses,  and  refuse  to  teach 
the  child  anything  of  the  world  we  inhabit,  until  an 
artificial  method  can  be  created.  The  artificial 
method  is  never  to  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  the 
natural  one,  but  is  to  be  employed  to  gain  what 
knowledge  we  can  of'  inaccessible  things,  and  of 
abstractions. 

Any  intelligent  person  who  knows  what  object 
teaching  is,  can  as  readily  see  the  superiority  of  that 
method  over  all  others  as  he  can  see  the  superiority 
of  the  sun,  for  illuminating  purposes,  over  the  pine 
knots  and  candles  of  the  last  generation.  The  boy 
that  thought  the  map  was  the  reality,  and  stated  that 


62  THE    NEW    METHOD 

"North  America  is  about  seven  inches  long,"  and 
that  the  "  meridians  are  lines  crossing  the  equator  at 
right  angels,"  was  greatly  in  need  of  a  few  object 
lessons  in  geography  as  well  as  upon  angles. 

Of  course  it  is  not  necessary  to  always  have  the 
object  present.  After  we  have  once  seen  the  rain- 
bow, observed  with  care  all  the  facts  relating  to  it, 
impressed  upon  the  memory  its  blended  colors,  and 
the  order  of  their  arrangement,  noted  all  its  aspects, 
measured  the  height  of  its  arch,  and  its  angles  with 
the  sun,  we  may  then  discourse  upon  it,  and  study 
the  philosophy  of  its  formation  at  pleasure. 

We  have  classes  from  seven  to  twelve  years  of  age 
in  botany,  mineralogy,  chemistry  and  most  other 
sciences,  and  their  interest  and  progress  equal  that 
of  the  older  classes  who  use  books.  In  botany  the 
scholar  learns  the  number,  form,  size  and  color  of 
petals,  stamens,  leaves  and  all  other  parts  by  personal 
observation.  He  is  told  only  such  things  as  he  can- 
not discover,  such  as  names  of  parts  and  properties, 
and  some  of  the  uses  of  the  plant.  In  entomology  he 
inspects  the  insect  ;  in  mineralogy  the  specimen  of 
ore,  metal  or  other  mineral  is  present  ;  in  chemistry 
he  sees  the  invisible  element  separated  from  its  com- 
pound, and  with  taper  in  hand  he  has  gained  a  new 
sense. 

Oral  expression  immediately  follows  observation  : 


OF    EDUCATION  63 

and  how  eager  the  child  is  to  tell  what  he  has  learned. 
Next  is  the  mathematical  investigation  of  the  object, 
including  concrete  geometry,  drawing  and  arithmeti- 
cal problems.  Very  young  children  are  interested  in 
making  mathematical  discoveries  and  computations, 
and  at  the  same  time  they  are  indelibly  fixing  the 
scientific  facts  in  the  memory.  Last  of  all  follows  the 
reproduction  in  written  language  of  all  that  has  been 
learned  upon  the  object.  Of  this  the  child  never 
tires,  but  he  acquires  descriptive  power  seldom 
equaled  by  scholars  twice  as  old,  who  are  trained  in 
the  common  method. 

' '  But  when  will  the  children  learn  to  read  and 
spell?" 

By  the  object-method  the  child  will  not  only  read 
and  spell  better  at  the  age  of  eight  or  ten  years,  but 
he  will  accomplish  twice  as  much  in  writing,  compo- 
sition, and  mathematics  as  in  any  other,  and  all  these 
branches  are  learned  incidentally,  while  the  main 
work  is  the  pursuit  of  science.  There  is  no  delay  in 
the  acquisition  of  knowledge  if  we  first  give  the  child 
a  motive  for  learning,  and  then  present  the  work  in 
the  natural  order. 

The  above  statement  may  be  considered  extrava- 
gant, but  we  solicit  careful  investigation.  Moreover, 
there  are  parallels  in  nature,  which  if  we  would  study, 
we  need  not  be  surprised. 


64  THE    NEW    METHOD 

Mark  the  course  of  the  young  child  under  nature's 
tuition.  His  first  words  are  names  of  things  of  essen- 
tial interest  to  him.  Those  words  never  could  have 
been  learned  if  his  senses  had  not  taken  cognizance 
of  the  things,  and  conveyed  an  idea  to  his  mind. 
The  observation  of  the  thing  gives  rise  to  the  idea, 
and  the  word  is  the  expression  of  the  idea.  The 
word,  then,  is  virtually  created  by  the  thing,  and 
from  it  derives  its  meaning  and  all  its  interest. 

In  testing  a  child  of  two  years  we  found  that  in  a 
single  day  she  used  over  a  hundred  different  words. 
About  three  fourths  of  the  words  were  names  of  things 
she  often  saw ;  and  every  thought  she  expressed  was 
suggested  by  those  things.  Another. test  was  with  a 
boy  of  five  years.  He  could  talk  with  equal  fluency 
in  two  languages  ;  but  had  never  been  taught  in 
either.  He  learned  one  in  the  family,  the  other  in 
the  street.  Is  there  any  such  progress  as  this  in  our 
own  or  any  other  language  in  our  schools  ?  If  we 
would  have  the  child  continue  to  learn  language  in 
school  as  he  does  before  he  enters,  we  must  adopt 
nature's  method,  and  furnish  him  with  new  ideas 
by  daily  presenting  new  objects  and  phenomena. 
Things  before  words  is  clearly  the  natural  order  with 
early  childhood  ;  is  the  law  reversed  the  moment  he 
enters  school  ? 

But  a  clear  idea  of  the  object-method   cannot   be 


OF    EDUCATION  65 

given  by  words.  One  who  wishes  to  know  how  the 
work  is  conducted  must  necessarily  have  an  object- 
lesson  on  object-teaching.  Our  rooms  will  be  open 
to  visitors  for  a  few  weeks,  beginning  about  the  tenth 
of  <May,  and  all  are  invited  to  spend  a  day  or  two 
with  us. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  a  word  in  this  com- 
munity upon  the  merits  of  the  normal  system  of  in- 
struction. Notwithstanding  every  circumstance  has 
been  unfavorable,  except  the  system  itself,  the  suc- 
cess of  this  institution  from  the  day  it  was  opened 
has  exceeded  the  expectations  of  its  most  sanguine 
friends.  Our  rooms  have  always  been  filled  beyond 
their  capacity  to  accommodate  ;  and  our  number  has 
included  the  greater  part  of  the  advanced  scholars  of 
this  village  and  vicinity. 

The  influence  of  the  normal  system  in  Milford,  for 
the  past  fifteen  years,  seems  to  have  been  beneficial. 
It  has  qualified  a  large  number  of  young  ladies  for 
the  profession  of  teaching;  and,  judging  from  the 
demand  for  their  services,  and  the  wages  paid  them, 
it  would  seem  that  their  teaching  is  valued.  The 
average  wages  of  female  teachers,  in  this  State,  last 
year,  was  less  than  twenty-one  dollars.  The  average 
wages  of  our  graduates  was  forty-two  dollars, — nearly 
as  much  as  that  of  the  graduates  of  the  Normal  Uni- 
versity  of    Illinois,  which  was  forty-six  dollars.     It 


66  THE    NEW    METHOD 

also  seems  to  have  raised  the  public  estimation  of  the 
value  of  good  learning.  Our  district,  for  the  last 
year,  has  paid  twice  as  much  per  scholar,  for  instruc- 
tion, as  was  paid  five  years  ago,  and  more  than  twice 
as  much  as  the  average  in  the  State.  Besides,  very 
liberal  donations  of  piano,  carpets,  paintings,  statu- 
ary and  other  ornaments  for  the  school-rooms,  have 
been  made  by  citizens,  to  supply  the  place  of  those 
previously  furnished  gratuitously,  by  teachers. 

It  is  thought  that  chemical  and  philosophical  appa- 
ratus, cabinets  of  minerals,  and  other  specimens  for 
illustration  of  natural  history  will  soon  be  purchased 
so  that  the  sciences  of  nature,  which,  if  rightly 
taught,  constitute  the  central  star  in  education,  may 
be  taught  in  our  public  schools.  I  have  such  articles, 
sufficient  to  illustrate  most  facts  of  science,  including 
many  valuable  reference  books  and  charts,  which  I 
have  used  during  my  teaching  in  Milford,  and  I 
hereby  offer  the  district  the  free  use  of  them,  such 
as  they  are,  during  my  absence  in  foreign  countries. 

The  natural  sciences  all  culminate  in  the  science  of 
human  nature ;  and  are  to  be  learned  as  a  key  to 
that  highest  order  of  truth — the  laws  of  the  human 
mind.  Knowledge  of  moral  law  is  the  highest  knowl- 
edge within  the  reach  of  man.  Its  real  possession 
constitutes  the  highest  order  of  greatness.  Galileo 
and  Newton  possessed  almost  intuitive  mathematical 


OF   EDUCATION  67 

greatness.  Socrates  and  Confucius  possessed  moral 
greatness.  Both  these  orders  of  greatness  depend 
alike  on  culture.  The  one  penetrates  the  regions  of 
immensity  and  measures  the  stars  in  their  course. 
The  other  seeks  to  know  the  right,  and  having  found 
it,  never  quails  in  its  defence,  but  stands  by  it,  with 
a  sublimity  of  purpose  that  defies  all  danger, — stands 
by  it  as  the  mountain  stands  when  the  storm  rages 
around  its  unshaken  summit. 

The  works  of  the  great  Architect,  whether  material 
or  immaterial,  are  all  radiant  with  His  thoughts  ; 
and  when,  through  the  ennobling  tendency  of  their 
study,  we  have  reached  that  transcendent  order  of 
truth  to  which  all  other  truth  is  accessory,  society 
will  be  on  the  highway  to  social  and  political  pros- 
perity. 

WM.  L.  WHITTEMORK. 

Mii<ford,  April,  1870 


SECTION   IV. 


Milford  Public  Schools,  1875 


REPORT 


OF    THE 


BOARD   OF   EDUCATION 


OF  MILFORD,  N.  H 


For  the  Year    1874-5 


A  very  wise  man  of  ancient  time  has  said  that  there 
is  but  one  good  in  the  world,  and  but  one  evil, — that 
knowledge  is  the  one  good,  and  ignorance  the  one 
evil.  This  exalted  estimate  of  the  value  of  knowl- 
edge is  becoming  more  and  more  general  in  all  civil- 
ized countries. 

Our  common  schools  are  the  repositories  of  knowl- 
edge for  the  people,  and  should  be  guarded  with 
special  care  and  unceasing  vigilance.  A  well  regu- 
ated  school  system  is  an  essential  element  of  a  people's 
prosperity  ;  for  knowledge  is  the  foundation  and  sup- 
port of  our  liberties. 


72  THE    NEW    METHOD 


PRIMARY  SCHOOLS 

The  importance  of  these  schools  and  the  difficulty 
in  properly  teaching  and  managing  them  is  not,  we 
fear,  sufficiently  appreciated.  They  are  the  founda- 
tion of  our  educational  system,  and  unless  this  is 
firmly  and  securely  laid  the  whole  structure  will 
prove  a  failure.  We  have  been  remarkably  fortunate 
the  past,  year  in  having  teachers  of  great  merit  in 
these  res'ponsible  places. 

First  Primary. — This  school  has  been  under  the 
charge  of  Miss  Clara  E.  Crosby  during  the  entire 
year.  Good  order  has  been  maintained,  and  very 
commendable  progress  made  in  all  the  studies. 
Through  the  energy  and  tact  of  the  teacher,  each 
term  has  been  an  improvement  over  the  preceding. 

Second  Primary. — This  school  presents  a  model  of 
excellent  order,  and  energetic  and  spirited  teaching, 
joined  with  activity,  lively  interest  and  perfect  obedi- 
ence on  the  part  of  the  scholars.  Miss  Alice  C. 
Gray,  teacher. 


OF    EDUCATION  73 

Third  Primary. — It  was  found,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year,  that  there  were  more  young  children  about 
to  enter  school  in  the  village,  than  could  be  accom- 
modated in  the  second  primary  ;  consequently,  suit- 
able rooms  were  secured,  and  a  third  primary  school 
was  opened,  under  the  instruction  of  several  young 
ladies  of  the  high  school,  each  teaching  one  hour  a 
day,  and  having  no  other*  compensation  than  a 
course  of  instruction  upon  the  most  approved  methods 
of  primary  education.  The  first  class  was  taught  by 
Mary  E.  Coburn  and  Helen  L.  Buttrick,  the  second 
by  Hattie  J.  Burdick  and  Kate  A.  Dicke}',  and  the 
third  by  Sarah  W.  Bruce  and  Clara  J.  Towne.  No 
scholars  in  town  of  similar  age  have  made  better 
progress  than  these.  The  teachers  have  manifested 
a  lively  interest  in  their  work,  and  are  entitled  to 
much  credit  for  their  successful  efforts. 

West  Primary. — Spring  term.  Miss  Annah  E. 
Adams,  teacher.  By  earnest  and  faithful  effort, 
Miss  Adams  brought  this  school  to  a  high  degree  of 
excellence  ;  but  unfortunately,  her  health  failed 
toward  the  close  of  the  summer  term,  and  being  un- 
able to  resume  her  work  in  autumn,  she  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Miss  Mary  A.  Hartshorn,  who  has  taught 
the  last  two  terms  with  marked  ability  and  great 
success. 


74  THE    NEW   METHOD 


GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS 

For  many  years  past  there  have  been  two  agencies, 
constantly  tending  to  make  the  grammar  schools  diffi- 
cult to  manage  and  unsatisfactory  in  their  results. 
One  reason  why  these  schools  have  been  so  generally 
found  in  a  demoralized  condition  may  be  looked  for 
in  the  frequent  change  of  teachers.  Very  few  teach- 
ers have  remained  in  these  schools  long  enough  to 
eradicate  the  existing  bad  habits  they  found  on  enter- 
ing them. 

A  second  hindrance  to  success  in  these  schools 
may  be  found  in  our  defective  system  of  teaching, 
which  here  begins  to  manifest  its  mischievous  tend- 
encies too  forcibly  to  be  easily  mistaken.  Young 
children  are  naturally  eager  for  knowledge  ;  and 
when  we  give  them  real  knowledge,  such  as  they  can 
assimilate  and  organize  for  use,  instead  of  unmeaning 
words  and  processes,  their  love  of  study  deepens  with 
age.  But  under  existing  methods,  the  love  of  knowl- 
edge is  often  crushed  out  before  the  child  reaches  the 
age  of  ten  years,  and  he  takes  no  interest  in  anything 
connected  with  school,  except  the  society  of  his  mates, 
and  the  various  amusements  they  manage  to  intro- 
duce to  break  up  the  monotony  of  school  work. 


OF    EDUCATION  75 

East  Grammar. — The  spring  term  was  taught  by 
Miss  H.  Juliette  Gilson,  a  teacher  of  great  energy 
and  superior  ability.  Much  was  done  to  break  up 
the  ordinary  routine,  and  to  cultivate  a  love  of  gen- 
eral intelligence,  by  spirited  conversations  upon 
science,  art,  and  passing  events. 

The  fall  and  winter  terms  were  taught  by  Miss  Isa- 
dore  Richardson,  who  has  labored  with  great  perse- 
verance and  with  success.  Since  the  middle  of  the 
fall  term  the  school  has  steadily  improved.  There 
has  been  a  marked  change  in  the  habits  of  the  schol- 
ars, both  in  respect  to  deportment  and  attention  to 
study. 

West  Grammar.  —  Teacher,  spring  and  winter 
terms,  Miss  Charlotte  S.  Robbins  ;  fall  term,  Miss 
Luella  C.  Hutchinson.  Through  the  well-directed 
efforts  of  both  teachers  this  school  closes  the  year  in 
fine  condition,  although  it  was  badly  demoralized  at 
the  beginning.  The  scholars  are  cheerful  and  happy, 
and  appear  to  enjoy  school  better  than  ever  before. 


76  THE    NEW    METHOD 

HIGH  SCHOOL 

Principal,  Mr.  G.  B.  French,  spring  term.  At  the 
end  of  the  spring  term,  Mr.  French  closed  his  con- 
nection with  the  high  school,  having  served  faithfull}r 
for  two  years,  and  given  very  general  satisfaction. 
He  was  assisted  by  Miss  Ellen  W.  Beane,  of  Norton, 
a  very  intelligent  and  accomplished  lady,  whose  ser- 
vices were  highhr  appreciated. 

Mr.  French  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  S.  J.  Blanpied, 
who  has  had  charge  of  the  school  since  the  beginning 
of  the  fall  term.  Mr.  Blanpied  is  a  teacher  of  thor- 
ough culture  and  considerable  experience.  Under 
his  judicious  management  the  school  has  gradually 
improved,  and  has  accomplished  all  that  could  be 
reasonably  expected. 

GENERAL  REMARKS 

There  has  been  a  growing  conviction  on  the  part 
of  many  of  our  citizens,  that  the  high  school  for 
several  years  past  has  been  managed  upon  a  plan 
hardly  in  harmony  with  the  principles  of  economy, 
and  equal  rights. 

It  is  alleged,  first,  that  the  study  of  the  dead  lan- 
guages has  been  held  up  as  the  one  essential  thing 
in  education,   and  that  the  best  efforts  of   teachers, 


OF    EDUCATION  77 

and  of  a  small  number  of  scholars  have  been  given 
to  that  work,  while  all  branches  of  English  education 
have  been  slighted,  and  looked  down  upon  with  a 
feeling  bordering  upon  contempt,  thus  spoiling  the 
education  of  ninety-nine  scholars  who  must  complete 
their  studies  here  because,  possibly,  the  one  hun- 
dredth may  wish  to  go  to  college. 

Second,  it  is  alleged  that  this  policy  is  not  only 
ruinous  to  the  interests  of  the  high  school,  but  is  be- 
ginning to  react  upon  the  lower  grades,  as  it  fails  to 
furnish  teachers  suitably  qualified  to  teach  the  com- 
mon branches  of  English  education  ;  and  third,  that 
this  policy  is  not  only  fatal  to  the  interests  of  true 
education,  but  annually  wastes  a  large  amount  of  the 
public  money. 

In  reply  to  such  charges  as  these,  the  board  feel 
called  upon  to  state  such  facts  as  have  come  under 
their  observation,  and  then  leave  the  subject  for 
others  to  dispose  of  as  they  will. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  all  small  places 
like  Milford,  the  standard  for  admission  to  the  high 
school  must  necessarily  be  much  lower  than  in  towns 
many  times  larger.  In  a  town  like  this  about  one 
tenth  of  the  scholars  must  be  in  the  high  school, 
without  much  regard  to  age  or  scholarship.  In  large 
cities  not  more  than  one  in  fifty,  or  even  one  in  a 
hundred  is  in  the  high  school.     Hence  such  scholars 


78  THE    NEW    METHOD 

as  the  two  younger  classes,  always  numbering  more 
than  one-half  of  our  school,  would  be  found  in  the 
grammar  schools  of  all  large  places.  In  the  classifi- 
cation of  the  high  school  this  fact  has  hardly  been 
recognized  ;  consequently  much  elementary  work, 
which  is  of  first  importance  in  education,  has  been 
left  undone,  and  scholars  have  worked  at  great  dis- 
advantage in  the  higher  branches.  In  the  written 
examination  of  the  school  last  June,  the  higher  classes 
were  found  more  thorough  in  arithmetic  than  in  any 
other  branch  of  English  education.  Seven  of  the 
nine  graduates  failed  in  the  following  example : 
' '  What  is  the  value  of  five  acres  of  land  at  three 
cents  per  foot?"  In  the  next  example  four  failed: 
11  What  is  the  amount  of  $400.  for  three  years  six 
months  at  seven  and  three  tenths  per  cent,  simple 
interest  ?" 

The  sixty  per  cent,  of  failures  did  not  arise  from 
slight  mistakes,  but  from  failing  to  find  the  proper 
method  of  solution. 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  best  work  presented  while 
the  poorest  work  was  in  the  understanding  and  use 
of  our  own  excellent  language — a  language  which, 
in  the  opinion  of  foreign  scholars,  is  hereafter  to  gain 
the  sovereignty  of  the  world. 

During  the  spring  term  the  time  of  two  teachers 
was  divided  between  the  different  branches  of  study 


OF    EDUCATION  79 

as  follows :  Sixty  per  cent,  to  instruction  in  lan- 
guages, including  our  own  language ;  twenty-five 
per  cent,  to  mathematics  ;  fifteen  per  cent,  to  science. 
There  were  five  classes  in  foreign  languages.  The 
classification  and  division  of  time  is  about  the  same 
as  it  has  been  for  several  years  past.  It  clearly  indi- 
cates a  one-sided  culture,  which  was  fully  substan- 
tiated by  the  examination.  A  symmetrical  culture 
would  be  more  favored  by  a  division  more  nearly 
like  the  following  :  Thirty  per  cent,  of  the  time  for 
mathematics ;  Thirty  per  cent,  for  science  ;  thirty 
per  cent,  for  language  ;  ten  per  cent,  for  art. 

At  the  present  time  we  have  nine  scholars  in  lan- 
guages, and  three  classes  for  their  accommodation. 
There  was  some  pressure  last  term  for  the  formation 
of  two  more  classes  for  the  accommodation  of  three 
other  scholars. 

A  false  classification  has  been  one  of  the  chief 
agencies  in  bringing  the  school  into  its  present  con- 
dition. It  has  been  divided  and  subdivided  into 
nearly  three  times  as  many  classes  as  there  ought  to 
be.  With  two  teachers  the  scholars  have  been  under 
instruction  only  about  one-fourth  of  the  day,  while 
with*  one  teacher  and  a  proper  classification  each 
scholar  would  be  under  instruction  considerably  more 
than  one-third  of  the  day.  By  this  means  much  more 
thorough  work  would  be  accomplished,  not  only  in 


8o  THE    NEW    METHOD 

mathematics,  science  and  the  languages,  but  there 
would  be  time  to  spare  for  drawing,  writing  and  other 
general  work. 

North  School. — This  school  was  taught  by  Miss  E. 
Jennie  Fifield  until  the  close  of  the  fall  term,  when 
she  retired,  highly  esteemed  both  by  scholars  and 
parents.  Under  Miss  Fifield's  steady  and  careful 
instruction  for  four  consecutive  terms  the  school 
reached  a  high  degree  of  excellence. 

Miss  Fifield  was  succeeded  in  the  winter  term  by 
Miss  Annah  K.  Adams,  who  fully  maintained  her 
reputation  as  a  good  disciplinarian  and  excellent 
teacher. 

Pine  Valley  School. — This  school  has  been  fortunate 
in  retaining  through  the  year  the  services  of  Mrs. 
Harriet  L.  Cleaves,  an  experienced  and  reliable 
teacher,  remarkably  well  adapted  to  the  important 
place  she  occupies.  We  hope  she  may  be  retained 
for  terms  to  come. 

Howard  School. — Miss  Fannie  Bullard,  teacher. 
This  school  always  appears  well  and  is  one  of  the 
best  in  town.  The  teacher  is  active  and  energetic  ; 
the  scholars,  studious  and  cheerful.  Under  these 
conditions  progress  is  always  certain. 


OF    EDUCATION  8l 

Shedd  School. — Spring  term.  This  school  was  ably 
taught  by  Miss  Mary  A.  Hartshorn  who  resigned  at 
the  close  of  the  spring  term.  Miss  Anna  L.  Colburn, 
a  recent  graduate  of  the  high  school,  succeeded  her. 
Being  unskilled  both  in  the  theory  and  practice  of 
teaching,  Miss  Colburn  was  hardly  able  at  first  to 
meet  the  demands  of  her  new  employment  ;  but  the 
experience  of  the  first  few  weeks,  joined  with  energy 
and  good  judgment,  enabled  her  to  bring  the  school 
into  very  fair  condition  before  the  close  of  her  first 
term. 

Osgood  School. — This  school  has  been  favored  by 
the  instruction  of  Miss  Catherine  A.  Tuttle  through 
the  entire  year.  Miss  Tuttle  is  a  fine  scholar  and  a 
careful  and  thorough  teacher.  Under  her  superior 
instruction  the  school  has  done  remarkably  well. 


Abbott  School. — The  spring  term  was  taught  by 
Miss  Emma  Bennett  ;  but,  unfortunately  for  the 
school,  her  valuable  services  could  be  retained  no 
longer.  The  instruction  was  spirited  and  thorough, 
and  the  progress  of  the  scholars  highly  satisfactory. 
Miss  Bennett  was  followed  by  Miss  E.  A.  Thomas  of 
Hudson,  who  kept  the  fall  term  with  fair  success, 
and  by  Miss  Laura  A.  Tilton,  whose  first  efforts  at 


82  THE    NEW    METHOD 

teaching  during  the  last  term  have  been  very  satisfac- 
tory. 

Duncklcc  Hill  School. — Miss  Ermina  E.  Holt  still 
gives  her  best  endeavors  to  this  school.  The  scholars 
have  been  kept  close  to  their  studies  and  to  the  rules. 
Miss  Holt  has  great  skill  in  ensuring  diligence,  good 
behavior  and  love  of  stud}'. 

It  may  be  seen  by  the  foregoing  brief  remarks  upon 
the  different  schools,  that  they  have  been,  generally, 
prosperous  through  the  year.  In  two  or  three  in- 
stances the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  success  were 
greater  than  the  teacher  was  able,  at  once,  to  remove; 
but  during  the  winter  term  every  school  has  been  in 
very  fair  condition. 

The  perfect  teacher  has  not  yet  made  his  appear- 
ance in  the  world,  but  it  is  not  wise  to  emblazon 
every  fault, — a  few  deserve  mention. 

Manner.  Teachers  should  be  spirited,  lively, 
energetic,  and  refined  in  their  manner,  brief,  direct, 
clear  and  impressive  in  all  they  say,  both  in  teaching 
and  governing,  but  never  noisy  and  blustering. 

Pronunciation.  Closely  allied  to  a  faulty  utter- 
ance in  several  of  our  schools,  is  a  false  pronuncia- 
tion of  words.  We  raise  no  issue  with  the  disciples 
of  Worcester  or  Webster,  but  do  protest  against  the 
prevalent  violations  of  both  taste  and  all  dictionaries. 


OF    EDUCATION  83 

We  insist  that  together  is  never  togather  ;  that  often 
has  no  t  in  its  pronunciation  ;  that  a  in  half  and 
laugh  is  never  correctly  pronounced  as  a  in  man. 

Ventilation.  Many  of  the  school  rooms  are  often 
too  warm  or  else  cold — not  ventilated  at  all  or  else 
carelessly  ventilated,  endangering  the  health  of 
scholars  from  colds  or  from  poisonous  gases.  By 
careful  study  and  constant  attention,  the  teacher 
could  often  make  the  scholars  more  comfortable,  and 
thereby  secure  better  order  and  attention  to  study. 

MODERN  CULTURE 

In  all  we  have  said  of  our  schools  thus  far,  our 
standpoint  has  been  the  traditional  system  of  educa- 
tion, which  had  its  origin  centuries  ago,  when 
modern  civilization  was  in  its  infancy  —  a  system 
which  has  been  long  sustained  in  this  country  by  the 
power  of  old  tradition  and  by  blind  habit,  notwith- 
standing its  want  of  adaptation  to  the  present  time. 
From  this  point  of  view  we  may  speak  of  our  schools 
in  terms  of  commendation  ;  but  when  we  view  them 
in  the  light  of  modern  educational  science,  and  com- 
pare them  with  what  we  ought  to  have  and  might 
have,  the  comparison  at  once  becomes  a  contrast. 

It  is  neither  longer  schools  nor  more  money  to 
expend  on  them  that  we  stand  in  greatest  need  of, 


84  THE    NEW    METHOD 

but  the  overshadowing  and  pressing  necessity  is  the 
introduction  and  use  of  the  educational  ideas  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

We  are  clinging  with  extreme  tenacity,  to  a  sys- 
tem of  education  which  was  better  suited  to  the  wants 
of  earlier  times,  but  is  out  of  harmony  with  the  in- 
tellectual necessities  of  modern  life  ;  a  system  which 
idolizes  the  past  and  worships  precedent  and  author- 
ity. Progress  consists  not  in  rejecting  the  past,  but 
in  assimilating  and  reorganizing  its  truth  into  har- 
mony with  new  circumstances  and  new  requirements. 

The  deep  defects  of  the  predominant  culture  are 
everywhere  apparent.  It  violates  the  laws  of  devel- 
opment in  almost  all  its  processes.  Vicious  alike  in 
its  methods  and  its  tendencies,  it  crushes  out  the 
natural  love  of  knowledge,  and  signally  fails  to 
accomplish  the  high  purposes  which  a  true  culture 
must  accomplish.  We  must  extend  the  knowledge 
of  our  predecessors  and  correct  their  errors.  Our 
errors  will  be  corrected  by  our  successors.  Obedi- 
ence to  obsolete  forms  must  no  longer  be  held  forth 
as  a  virtue,  for  the  knowledge  of  truth  is  progressive. 

Civilization  has  its  inflexible  laws.  Institutions 
are  not  born  perfect  and  adapted,  without  change,  to 
all  time  and  all  circumstances.  The  history  of  all 
civilizations  plainly  shows  that  perpetual  stagnation 
is  the  fatal    consequence  of    extreme    conservatism. 


OF    EDUCATION  85 

Within  the  memory  of  some  of  our  citizens  we  have 
given  up  many  of  the  methods  of  our  ancestors.  Old 
ways  are  tedious  and  too  expensive.  We  no  longer 
occupy  the  stage-coach  for  the  better  part  of  a  week, 
when  we  have  a  few  hours'  business  to  transact  fifty 
or  a  hundred  miles  away.  A  modern  idea,  expressed 
in  the  locomotive,  saves  us  one-half  the  fare  and  two 
or  three  days'  time,  to  say  nothing  of  personal  com- 
fort. 

We  can  hardly  realize  the  magnitude  and  import- 
ance of  modern  discoveries  and  inventions.  Almost 
every  art  has  been  transformed  within  the  last  forty 
years,  and  our  manufacturers  and  business  men  would 
become  bankrupt  if  they  should  ignore  modern  ideas 
and  methods  in  their  business  as  they  are  ignored  in 
education. 

We  have  made  wonderful  progress  in  material 
prosperity,  but  very  little  improvement  in  the  means 
we  employ  for  our  emancipation  from  the  thraldom 
of  ignorance  and  immorality.  You  saw  quite  as 
good  instruction  in  the  old  brick  house  by  the  bridge 
twenty-five  years  ago,  as  we  have  seen  in  most  of  our 
schools  the  past  few  years.  We  have  better  school- 
houses,  more  studies  and  longer  schools,  but  the 
same  primitive  method  of  teaching. 

Educators  from  foreign  countries  have  justly  criti- 
cised  our   school   polity,  as    lavishing   money    upon 


86  THE    NEW    METHOD 

school  buildings,  furniture  and  fixtures,  while  we 
regard  the  qualifications  of  teachers  as  of  secondary 
importance. 

The  discoveries  of  modern  science  have  given  us 
the  telegraph,  railroads  and  steam-boats,  and  brought 
to  our  doors  all  the  products  of  nature  and  of  art. 
Yet  there  has  been  no  greater  progress  in  the  sciences 
which  underlie  industrial  prosperity,  than  in  those 
which  unfold  the  laws  of  mental  culture.  In  one 
case  science  has  been  utilized,  in  the  other  ignored. 

When  a  steamship  is  to  be  built,  all  the  knowledge 
in  the  world,  upon  the  application  of   steam  power 
and  ship  building,  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the  enter- 
prise.    The   same  is  true  in  many  of   the  arts   and' 
manufactures  ;  but  how  different  it  is  in  education  ! 

On  completing  his  general  education  the  candidate 
for  either  of  the  learned  professions  must  spend  years 
in  learning  the  special  knowledge  of  the  profession 
he  would  enter.  The  merchant  goes  to  the  mercan- 
tile college  and  the  mechanic  to  his  apprenticeship  ; 
but  the  teacher,  whose  work  is  the  most  complex 
and  difficult  that  mortals  have  to  do,  goes  at  once  in- 
to practice,  although  as  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  men- 
tal development  as  the  children  he  undertakes  to 
teach. 

That  such  is  the  status  of  education  is  not  the 
fault  of  teachers,  but  of  public  sentiment.     Very  few 


OF    EDUCATION  87 

have  investigated  the  subject  far  enough  to  know 
that  there  is  any  science  of  education,  except  what 
anyone  may  know  intuitively.  Yet  in  some  parts  of 
the  old  world  teaching  has  recently  become  a  learned 
profession,  and  the  most  learned  of  all  professions, 
requiring  six  years  of  special  study  and  training. 

Most  men  hate  new  ideas.  What  has  been  the 
history  of  the  introduction  of  every  modern  improve- 
ment which  blesses  the  world  today  ?  How  did  the 
public  behave  towards  Fulton  when  he  declared  that 
steam  power  would  some  day  propel  ships  across  the 
Atlantic  ?  towards  Stephenson,  when  he  announced 
his  plan  for  moving  a  train  of  cars  by  steam  twenty 
miles  an  hour?  towards  Field,  when  he  thought  a 
message  could  be  sent  across  the  ocean  with  lightning 
speed  ?  Each  of  these  great  benefactors  was  ridi- 
culed and  accused  of  foolishness  or  insanity  ;  yet  we 
have  already  realized  even  more  than  they  promised. 

If  the  building  of  the  first  steamer  had  depended 
upon  the  vote  of  the  majority,  when  would  it  have 
been  built?  Private  fortunes  were  expended  before 
the  public  had  any  faith  in  its  practicability  or  in  its 
possibility.  But  when  the  boat  was  seen  to  move, 
and  the  "rattling  car"  was  heard,  when  telegrams 
from  central  Europe  told  us  of  battles  before  the 
"  cannon's  roar  '  had  ceased,  men  were  compelled  to 
believe. 


88  THE    NEW   METHOD 

If  we  would  but  learn  the  laws  of  the  world's  prog- 
ress in  civilization,  and  qualify  ourselves  to  distin- 
guish between  truth  and  error,  we  might  save  our- 
selves from  that  self-defeat  which  marks,  not  only 
the  present,  but  all  past  ages.  Great  truths  have 
been  smothered  for  centuries  after  they  were  first 
announced,  and  their  discoverers  persecuted  instead 
of  cherished  for  their  manly  defence  of  them.  Bruno, 
the  Italian  astronomer,  was  chased  through  France, 
England,  Germany  and  Switzerland,  for  teaching 
that  the  sun  and  some  of  the  planets  are  as  large  as 
the  earth.  At  last  he  was  arrested,  taken  to  Rome, 
and  burnt  at  the  stake  in  the  year  1600.  Galileo 
would  have  met  the  same  fate  for  teaching  that  the 
earth  revolves  around  the  sun,  had  he  not,  on  his 
knees,  retracted  all  he  had  taught,  and  promised  to 
desist  from  farther  teaching.  Sixteen  years  later  he 
published  a  book  on  the  motions,  size  and  distances 
of  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  was  again  seized  and  com- 
pelled to  abjure  the  doctrine  it  taught  as  false  and 
pernicious.  He  was  then  cast  into  prison,  where  he 
died  after  ten  years  of  most  cruel  treatment,  and  he 
was  denied  a  decent  burial.  Thus  perished  the  most 
illustrious  and  devoted  scholar  of  the  age,  because 
his  teaching  was  not  in  harmony  with  existing  tradi- 
tional authority.     These  illustrations  show  the  atti- 


OF    EDUCATION  89 

tude  of  European  civilization  toward  science  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

In  still  earlier  times  scientific  men  did  not  dare  to 
teach  publicly  at  all ;  but  at  the  close  of  life  left  the 
result  of  their  study  in  writing,  as  a  legacy  to  the 
world,  when  they  had  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  its 
cruelty. 

In  every  age  of  the  world's  history,  millions  upon 
millions  of  human  beings  have  perished  from  lack  of 
knowledge  ;  yet,  in  every  age,  knowledge  has  been 
met  as  an  intruder  in  the  world.  Had  the  spirit  of 
toleration  which  is  now,  slowly,  but  surely  gaining  a 
place  in  modern  society,  ruled  in  ages  past,  instead 
of  the  intolerance  which  has  so  hindered  the  increase 
and  diffusion  of  knowledge,  might  not  the  light  which 
once  shone  in  Alexandria,  the  birth-place  of  real 
science  and  scientific  methods — might  not  the  wis- 
dom of  Eratosthenes,  Hipparchus,  Hero,  Euclid  and 
a  hundred  other  immortal  names  which  there  found 
a  place  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  illustrious 
Ptolemies,  have  come  down  the  centuries  with  in- 
creasing power,  to  illuminate  the  long  night  of  ig- 
norance through  which  the  world  has  passed  ? 

The  mission  of  science  is  just  begun.  It  has  had 
but  here  and  there  a  solitary  disciple  ;  yet  it  has 
helped  us  much  in  our  remote  interests.  Our  im- 
mediate and  greatest  interests  can  be  regulated  only 


90  THE    NEW    METHOD 

through  the  personal  possession  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge. Among  those  who  have  been  thoroughly  and 
symmetrically  cultured  in  science,  there  is  but  one 
opinion  as  to  its  value.  What  is  a  contrary  opinion 
worth,  which  is  not  based  upon  such  culture  ?  Many 
of  our  colleges  practically  ignore  science,  and  gradu- 
ate young  men  who  know  less  of  it  than  boys  of  ten 
years  ought  to  know  and  do  know  in  some  parts  of 
Europe.  Your  children  labor  through  twelve  years 
of  school  life,  and  after  all  graduate  in  worse  than 
Egyptian  darkness  respecting  the  most  useful  of  all 
knowledge,  such  as  all  people  would  use,  if  they  pos- 
sessed it,  every  da}'  of  their  lives. 

"  It  does  seem  to  me  strange,  to  use  the  mildest 
word,  that  people  whose  destiny  it  is  to  live,  even  for 
a  few  short  years,  on  this  planet  which  we  call  the 
earth,  and  who  intend  to  live  as  comfortably  and 
wholesomely  as  they  can,  should  in  general  be  so 
careless  about  the  constitution  of  this  same  planet, 
and  of  the  laws  and  facts  on  which  depend,  not 
merely  their  comfort  and  their  wealth,  but  their 
health  and  their  very  lives,  and  the  health  and  the 
lives  of  their  children  and  descendants.   .    .   . 

"But  as  for  mankind  thriving  by  common-sense  : 
they  have  not  thriven  by  common-sense,  because 
they  have  not  used  their  common-sense  according  to 
that  regulated  method  which  is  called  science.  In 
no  age,  in  no  country,  as  yet,  have  the  majority  of 
mankind  been  guided,  I  will   not  say  by  the  love  of 


OF   EDUCATION  9 1 

God,  and  by  the  fear  of  God,  but  not  even  by  sense 
and  reason.  Not  sense  and  reason,  but  nonsense  and 
unreason — prejudice  and  fancy — greed  and  haste — 
have  led  them  to  such  results  as  were  to  be  expected 
— to  superstitions,  persecutions,  wars,  famines,  pesti- 
lence, hereditary  disease,  poverty,  waste — waste  in- 
calculable, and  now  too  often  irremediable — waste  of 
life,  of  labor,  of  capital,  of  raw  material,  of  soil,  of 
manure,  of  every  bounty  which  God  has  bestowed  on 
man,  till  whole  countries,  some  of  the  finest  in  the 
world,  seem  ruined  forever ;  and  all  because  men 
will  not  learn  nor  obey  those  physical  laws  of  the 
universe  which  (whether  we  be  conscious  of  them 
or  not)  are  all  around  us,  like  walls  of  iron  and  of 
adamant — say  rather,  like  some  vast  machine,  ruth- 
less though  beneficent,  among  the  wheels  of  which, 
if  we  entangle  ourselves  in  our  rash  ignorance,  they 
will  not  stop  to  set  us  free,  but  crush  us,  as  they 
have  crushed  whole  nations  and  whole  races  ere  now 
to  powder.   .   .   . 

"  To  those  who  believe  in  God,  and  try  to  see  all 
things  in  God,  the  most  minute  natural  phenomenon 
cannot  be  secular.  It  must  be  divine  ;  I  say  deliber- 
ately, divine  ;  and  I  can  use  no  less  lofty  word.  The 
grain  of  dust  is  a  thought  of  God  ;  God's  power  made 
it ;  God's  wisdom  gave  it  whatsoever  qualities  or 
properties  it  may  possess.  Only  look  at  all  created 
things  in  this  light — look  at  them  as  what  they  are, 
the  expressions  of  God's  mind  and  will  concerning 
this  universe  in  which  we  live — "  the  voice  of  God 
revealed  in  facts  " — and  then  you  will  not  fear  physi- 


92  THE    NEW    METHOD 

cal  science,  for  you  will  be  sure  that,  the  more  you 
know  of  physical  science,  the  more  you  will  know  of 
the  works  and  of  the  will  of  God." — Rev.  Charles 
Kings  ley,  of  England. 

GENERAL  PRINCIPLES 

"  Our  whole  system  of  instruction  requires  an  hon- 
est, thorough,  and  candid  revision.  It  has  been  for 
centuries  the  child  of  authority  and  precedent.  God 
intended  us  for  progress,  and  we  counteract  his  de- 
sign when  we  deify  antiquity,  and  bow  down  and 
worship  an  opinion,  not  because  it  is  either  wise  or 
true,  but  merely  because  it  is  ancient." — Francis 
Wayland,  D.D.,  late  President  of  Bivwn  University. 

"  We  display  a  singular  disregard  of  the  plain  in- 
dications of  nature,  who  herself  points  out  the  order 
in  which  the  faculties  should  be  drawn  out  into  action. 
We  have  inverted  the  natural  order  just  as  complete- 
ly as  possible.  And  this  inversion  of  the  order  of 
nature,  carries  with  it  the  unfortunate  consequences 
that  no  satisfactory  knowledge  is  acquired  at  last. 
— F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  LL.D.,  President  of  Columbia 
College. 

The  pioneer  of  material  progress  has  fought  his 
battle  and  is  victorious.  His  victory  has  also  made 
the  vanquished  truly  victorious,  for  it  raises  both 
the  'just  and  the  unjust  '  into  a  higher  civilization. 
But  the  advocate  of  educational  reform  has  under- 
taken a  more  difficult  task — more  difficult  because  he 


OF    EDUCATION  93 

can  do  nothing  without  the  consent  of  the  public,  and 
the  public  can  overturn  his  work  at  pleasure,  even 
just  as  he  is  ready  to  demonstrate  its  value.  With 
every  new  victory  the  progress  of  science  is  acceler- 
ated ;  but  the  power  that  crushes  truth  to  earth 
shackles  itself. 

It  will  be  the  object  of  the  next  few  paragraphs  to 
give  a  brief  outline  of  the  course  clearly  indicated  by 
the  educational  science  of  the  present  time. 

True  education  is  as  many  sided  as  the  mind  that 
is  to  receive  it ;  and  the  mind  is  as  many  sided  as  the 
sum  total  of  human  knowledge.  In  education  there 
can  be  but  one  true  method,  and  that  method  coin- 
cides with  nature's  tendencies  and  guides  the  mind 
in  accordance  with  the  law  of  its  spontaneous 
evolution. 

In  the  study  of  the  laws  of  mental  development  our 
success  must  be  limited,  unless  we  get  at  the  general 
law  of  life  by  studying  the  simpler  forms  of  living 
things.  There  is  one  law  of  development  :  it  begins 
in  the  lowest  forms  of  plant  life  and  ends  in  the  phy- 
sical and  mental  development  of  man,  becoming 
more  and  more  complex  as  it  ascends  into  higher 
orders  of  plant  and  animal  life.  Nothing  in  nature 
stands  solitary  and  alone.  Every  part  of  the  world 
is  interlaced  with  every  other  part,  and  is  more  or 
less  dependent  upon  every  other  part.     Man  himself 


94  THE    NEW    METHOD 

is  linked  by  visible  or  invisible  chains,  with  every 
atom  of  matter  on  the  globe.  He  is  as  intimately 
connected  with  the  three  kingdoms  of  nature  as  the 
tree  with  the  earth  and  the  air  which  its  roots  and 
leaves  penetrate  ;  nor  can  this  intimate  connection 
cease  for  a  moment.  The  unity  of  nature  establishes 
the  unity  of  science.  The  unity  of  science  makes  the 
study  of  education  a  necessity,  and  gives  a  clew  to 
the  natural  order  of  mental  unfolding. 

Man  is  a  product  of  nature  and  the  culmination  of 
her  works ;  his  whole  being  is  permeated  through 
and  through  by  nature's  forces  and  nature's  laws. 
The  highest  and  most  valuable  knowledge  that  man 
can  possess  is  knowledge  of  himself.  Knowledge  of 
himself  is  the  culmination  of  all  science — the  great 
problem  in  whose  solution  all  science  is  concerned. 
The  growth  of  the  tree  no  more  depends  on  the  ele- 
ments of  earth,  air  and  water,  and  the  forces  of  nature 
that  marshal  them  into  life  and  organization,  than 
man  depends  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  whole  realm 
of  nature  if  he  would  attain  to  either  physical  or 
mental  perfection. 

We  violate  the  laws  of  life  at  every  step,  and  shall 
continue  to  do  so,  until  we  qualify  ourselves  to  under- 
stand them  in  all  their  complexity,  by  the  proper 
study  of  all  classes  of  objects  and  phenomena — all 
the  laws  and  all  the  forces  of  nature — laws  of  matter 


OF    EDUCATION  95 

and  laws  of  mind.  In  the  volume  of  nature  there  are 
no  faults.  It  is  God's  perfect  text-book  for  the 
young  and  the  old  of  all  nations  and  for  all  time.  Its 
ample  pages  are  all  illuminated  with  infinite  skill,  to 
allure  us  to  the  study  of  the  perfect  wisdom  of  the 
great  Author  of  all.  Ignorance  of  the  laws  of  life 
confers  no  exemption  from  the  failure  and  suffering 
consequent  upon  their  violation.  Nature's  inexor- 
able and  unpitying  penalties  are  meant  to  coerce  us 
to  the  study  of  her  works,  when  their  exceeding 
beauty  fails  to  allure  our  attention. 

The  fatal  error  in  the  educational  schemes  of  all 
ages  has  been  the  futile  attempt  to  ornament  the 
mind  without  informing  it ;  hence  the  world  has  but 
just  discovered  even  the  existence  of  those  laws  whose 
violation  renders  human  life  so  narrow,  so  full  of 
pain  and  disappointment.  Let  us  not  boast  of  a  high 
civilization  while  the  lives  of  half  the  human  race 
are  crushed  out  before  they  reach  the  age  of  seven 
years,  and  not  one  in  ten  of  the  other  half  makes  a 
successful  life  of  three  score  years. 

The  first  law  of  mental  development  is  symmetry. 
Moreover  this  law  manifests  itself  in  all  normal  de- 
velopment from  the  crystallization  of  the  snow-flake, 
through  all  gradations  of  plant  and  animal  life.  By 
what  perversity  or  blindness  has  the  prevailing  cult- 
ure so  completely  excluded  this  law  till  the  present 


96  THE    NEW   METHOD 

time?  In  the  vegetable  kingdom  development  will 
not  take  place  at  all  unless  the  conditions  favor  sym- 
metrical development.  A  grain  of  wheat  is  composed 
of  about  a  dozen  elements  chemically  combined  into 
three  classes  of  compounds.  Four  of  these  elementary 
substances  are  derived,  directly  or  indirectly,  from 
the  atmosphere,  and  the  rest  from  the  soil.  If  a 
single  element  is  deficient,  the  grain  will  not  thrive ; 
and  if  one  element  is  entirely  wanting,  not  one  kernel 
of  wheat  will  grow,  even  if  all  other  conditions  are 
most  favorable.  The  food  of  man,  in  all  its  variety, 
is  made  up  of  the  same  three  classes  of  compounds 
somewhat  extended,  though  containing  very  few  ad- 
ditional elements.  If  either  the  mineral,  the  car- 
bon, or  the  nitrogen  class  were  left  out  of  our  food 
for  a  single  month  death  would  be  the  result.  This 
law  extends  to  the  natural  growth  and  unfolding  of 
the  human  mind.  Violated  law  tells  more  fatally  on 
childhood  than  upon  age.  The  result  of  violating 
the  law  of  physical  development  is  disease  or  death, 
while  the  violation  of  the  law  of  mental  development 
stultifies  or  paralyzes  the  faculties  of  the  mind. 

From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  general  educa- 
tion, symmetry  is  the  one  essential  law;  without  it, 
all  systems  of  education  will  prove  a  failure.  The 
child  just  entering  school,  possesses  every  faculty,  or 
at  least  the  germ  of  every  faculty,  found  in  the  ma- 


OF    EDUCATION  97 

ture  mind.  He  can  observe,  remember,  compare  and 
reason,  but  he  must  do  these  as  a  child.  He  wants 
ideas,  not  the  signs  and  symbols  of  ideas;  he  wants 
knowledge  itself,  for  he  can  use  it  ;  but  he  has  no  im- 
mediate use  for  the  arbitrary  signs  of  knowledge.  He 
delights  in  the  use  of  his  senses  ;  by  their  exercise 
he  has  already  learned  the  most  obvious  properties, 
simple  relations  and  uses,  as  well  as  the  names  of  all 
familiar  things.  He  has  many  thoughts  about  these 
things,  and  has  learned  how  to  express  them. 

Education  must  be  begun  and  continued  as  a  unit. 
The  first  week  in  school  should  represent  all  the  great 
branches  of  human  knowledge  —  science,  language, 
mathematics  and  art ;  not  in  so  many  separate  lessons 
or  exercises,  but  all  organized,  as  it  were,  and  as  in- 
timately connected  as  the  trunk,  roots  and  branches 
of  a  tree.  Curiosity  and  imitation,  the  natural  love 
of  knowing  and  doing,  must  both  be  gratified.  One 
of  the  chief  duties  of  the  teacher  is  to  direct  the  child 
how  to  observe,  and  where  to  observe,  and  how  to  as- 
similate and  express  the  result  of  observation  in  oral 
and  written  language,  in  mathematical  language,  and 
in  the  language  of  art. 

« 

"  In  place  of  this  rude  and  crude,  and  now  happily 
obsolescent  theory,  a  deeper  philosophy  is  leading  us 
to  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  undeveloped  mind, 
and  the  true  order  of  the  development  of  its  faculties. 


98  THE    NEW    METHOD 

...  I  need  hardly  point  out  what  a  change  in  all 
our  methods  this  change  in  our  philosophy  implies ; 
for  it  involves  the  doctrine  that  the  true  place  to 
begin  the  teaching  of  all  art,  all  science,  all  knowl- 
edge, is  the  primary  school ;  and  I  am  not  in  the  least 
afraid  of  the  seeming  paradox.  Rather  I  would  earn- 
estly maintain  that,  unless  we  treat  the  child  in  the 
primary  school  as  the  germ  and  embryo  of  all  he  is 
destined  afterward  to  become,  our  education  will  be 
doomed  to  ignominious  failure.  Whatever  is  to  enter 
into  the  higher  stages  of  education  is  to  have  its  seed 
planted  there,  or  it  never  will  be  planted." — William 
P.  Atkinson,  Professor  of  Literature,  Massachusetts  In- 
stitute of  Technology .  (From  a  lecture  at  the  National 
Teachers'  Association  at  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  1873.) 

The  second  fundamental  law  is,  that  education  be- 
gins with  the  concrete  and  not  with  the  abstract. 
The  child,  under  nature's  tuition,  before  entering 
school  observes  this  law,  and  hence  the  rapid  prog- 
ress he  makes  in  the  knowledge  of  his  surroundings, 
in  language,  and  in  intellectual  quickness  and  clear- 
ness ;  but  as  soon  as  he  enters  school  this  law  is 
completely  reversed  ;  the  observing  faculties,  those 
natural  avenues  of  knowledge,  without  which  all 
education  would  be  an  impossibility,  are  suppressed 
or  practically  ignored,  and  the  child  is  treated  as  if 
the  only  road  to  learning  were  through  the  arbitrary 
signs  of  ideas.  His  wonderful  intuitive  attainments 
are  all   overlooked   or  counted  as  nothing,   and   the 


OF    EDUCATION  99 

teacher  begins  by  superimposing  unnatural  work  in 
order  to  enable  the  child,  as  quickly  as  possible,  to 
learn  lessons  about  things  instead  of  learning  things 
as  before  entering  school  —  he  is  set  to  acquiring 
second-hand  knowledge,  instead  of  being  directed  in 
the  acquisition  of  real  knowledge  in  a  natural  way, 
and  as  a  consequence,  his  mind  becomes  vague  and 
abstracted  in  its  tendencies  and  habits.  Books  are 
but  one  element  in  true  education  ;  libraries  alone, 
cannot  make  learned  men.  The  best  books  are  read 
the  least,  because  our  education  neither  gives  a  taste 
for  useful  knowledge,  nor  the  ability  to  understand 
the  best  books. 

The  third  law  is,  that  education  begins  in  the 
simple  and  not  in  the  complex.  The  violation  of  this 
and  the  preceding  law  has  made  the  study  of  arith- 
metic very  tedious,  and  unsatisfactory.  The  com- 
plex and  the  abstract  are  so  strangely  mixed  with  the 
concrete  and  simple,  that  a  large  part  of  the  usual 
course  serves  rather  to  confuse  and  weaken  the  facul- 
ties than  to  strengthen  them. 

In  the  ordinary  study  of  science  we  begin  not  only 
in  the  abstract,  but  also  in  the  complex,  and  violate 
two  laws,  at  least. 

There  are  mountains  so  steep  they  cannot  be 
climbed ;  others  are  abrupt  on  one  side,  but  can 
easily  be  ascended  from  another  side,  by  travelling 


IOO  THE    NEW    METHOD 

up  a  long,  smooth,  inclined  plane.  Thus  it  is  with 
the  sciences.  The  method  in  our  schools  is  to  try  {.0 
climb  the  steepest  side  of  the  hill  of  science,  and  we 
slide  back  nearly  as  fast  as  we  ascend,  mistaking  our 
efforts  to  climb,  for  real  progress.  If  we  would  un- 
derstand such  a  complex  study  as  human  physiology 
and  the  laws  of  health,  we  must  pass  over  the  in- 
clined plane  of  all  plant  and  animal  life  ;  and  in  trav- 
elling this  inclined  plane,  the  learner  will  find  a  cult- 
ure, broad  and  symmetrical,  and  full  of  meaning  and 
interest  at  every  step.  Science,  language,  mathemat- 
ics, and  art  are  all  harmoniously  combined  in  the 
proper  study  of  the  simplest  plant.  And  the  reason 
this  method  delights  the  child  is  because  it  is  the 
method  of  nature.  He  reads  at  every  step  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Infinite,  and  his  thoughts  are  naturally 
led  from  "  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God." 

Respectfully  submitted, 

WM.  L.  WHITTEMORE,  )     Board 
CHAS.  B.  TUTTLE,  of 

SUMNER  B.  EMERSON,  )  Education 


UNIVERSITY  OP  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


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